India Clears 23 Chip Design Projects Under DLI Scheme

• MeitY approved 23 chip design projects and gave 72 firms access to EDA tools
• Vervesemi Microelectronics is developing ICs for energy meters, motors, EVs, drones, and aerospace
• Four new semiconductor manufacturing projects bring total investment to ₹1.6 trillion

Recently, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) announced that they have approved 23 chip design projects under its Design Linked Incentive (DLI) scheme, which will benefit domestic start-ups and MSMEs developing chips for surveillance cameras, energy meters and other applications.

In addition, through the DLI scheme, 72 companies have gained access to industry-grade Electronic Design Automation (EDA) tools to enable them to design chips more quickly, thereby continuing to grow India’s semiconductor design ecosystem. Vervesemi Microelectronics is among the firms supported by the DLI scheme.

Vervesemi is a fabless semiconductor company based in Bengaluru and was founded in 2017. Fabless companies are only involved in the design and development of semiconductor chips, but agree a contract with specialized third-party chip manufacturers (foundries) to make the chips, which enables them to innovate and develop products without having semiconductor fabrication facilities.

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The company is developing a portfolio of integrated circuits (ICs) across strategic and consumer sectors. This includes ASICs for weighing scales (such as on trucks), ASICs for bridge sensors and smart energy metering (expected to be sampling by the end of 2025) as well as BLDC controller ASICs for small motors (such as those in electrical cooking appliances), and motor-control ASICs for electric vehicles (EV), drones, industrial automation – all this being developed with the expectation that they will be ready for sampling in 2026. The projects also include (aerospace and avionics) data acquisition ASICs for  sampling in 2026.

Rakesh Malik, Founder & CEO of Vervesemi stated, "These innovations mark a turning point for India’s semiconductor ecosystem... By building high-performance, Made-in-India ICs for strategic and consumer markets, we are not only driving import substitution but also showcasing India’s capability to lead on the global semiconductor stage".

This announcement is part of the Centre’s broader semiconductor initiative, which covers both chip production and design. Earlier this month, the Union Cabinet approved four more semiconductor production projects under the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) for factories in Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Punjab.

With these projects, there will be a total of 10 semiconductor projects worth ₹1.6 trillion in three states, expected to create thousands of direct jobs and indirect jobs. There new businesses including proposals from SiCSem, Continental Device India Pvt. Ltd, 3D Glass Solutions Inc, and ASIP Technologies, include an expected ₹4,600 crore investment and create over 2,000 direct jobs and indirect jobs.