India's Chip Design Strength

How India became a major global hub for chip design engineers, why companies set up design centres here, and why India wants to own more chip IP.

While India hasn’t made chips at scale, it has long been a powerhouse in chip design.

A design hub

Global companies such as Intel, Qualcomm, Nvidia, AMD, Texas Instruments and others run large design centres in India.
Estimates suggest a significant share, often cited as around 20 percent, of the world’s semiconductor design engineers work in India.
Texas Instruments opened one of the earliest centres in Bengaluru in 1985.

Why India

A large pool of engineers in electronics and computer science.
Lower costs than in the US or Europe.
English skills.
Experience from the IT services industry.

The IP gap

Most chips designed in India are owned by foreign companies. India wants more Indian-owned chip intellectual property and fabless companies.

Design Linked Incentive scheme

The Design Linked Incentive (DLI) scheme, part of the Semiconductor Mission, supports Indian startups and companies designing chips, offering financial incentives and access to design tools.

Indian chip startups

Startups are designing chips for areas like IoT, power management, automotive and AI, though they remain small compared with global firms.

Why design matters

Design captures a large share of a chip’s value. Owning IP brings higher profits and strategic independence.

The design centre

Hundreds of engineers in a Bengaluru design centre work on a new processor for a global company. The chip is sold worldwide, but its design IP belongs to the foreign parent company.

Thinking India has no role in semiconductors

India is a major hub for chip design engineers, though most IP is foreign-owned.

Key takeaways

Many global chip firms run large design centres in India.
A significant share of the world's chip design engineers work in India.
Most chip IP designed in India is foreign-owned.
The DLI scheme supports Indian chip design startups.