First made-in-India chip will come out in September-October 2025: IT minister

The first made-in-India chip from a commercial fab will come out in September or October this year, IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said in Bengaluru on Saturday.Tata Electronics in partnership with Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (PSMC) is building the country’s first semiconductor fab in Dholera, Gujarat.

The government has granted Rs 334 crore to the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, “for new research and development (R&D) in gallium nitride, a technology in semiconductors, which is used in telecom and power,” Vaishnaw said at a press conference on Union Budget 2025 announcements.

The government will soon come out with a production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for components, he said.

Gallium nitride (GaN) is touted to be India’s opportunity to mark its presence in the niche field of semiconductors as the technology is still evolving and it is less expensive than silicon to set up a foundry, IISc said on its website.

An interdisciplinary group of IISc faculty members has developed India’s first e-mode GaN power transistor, whose performance is comparable to some of the best reported till date, it said. GaN “is better suited for high power and high-frequency applications,” the site claims.

Vaishnaw said the government will launch a portal for graphics processing units (GPUs) under the IndiaAI Mission in seven-to-eight days. He was responding to a question from ET on how many of the 18,693 GPUs proposed under the IndiaAI Mission are being offered at the lowest bidder (L1) prices by the 10 technically qualified companies.February 14 was the last day for the companies to submit their response to the letter of intent sent by the IT ministry on February 7, asking them to match L1 prices.

India has seen Rs 13,162-crore investments in electronics manufacturing space in the recent past with many more investments coming, Vaishnaw said. Currently, the latest semiconductor design tools are being given to students in 234 universities, he added.

In response to a question from ET, Vaishnaw said the IT ministry is working with the industry first to complete the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) 1.0, in which the modernisation of Semiconductor Lab, Mohali, is still pending. Once that is completed, the ministry will work on the approval of ISM 2.0, he said. Budgetary allocation for ISM 2.0 will be revealed post the cabinet approval, he added.