Aiming self-reliance in 75% tech categories within 4 yrs: Vaishnaw

The government is aiming to make high-tech small chips of 3-nanometre nodes — used in products like modern smartphones and computers — by 2032, Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Tuesday.

The minister said the government will focus on six categories of chips — compute, radio frequency (RF), networking, power, sensor, and memory — under the second phase of Design-Linked Incentive Scheme that will allow companies in the country to have major control on developing 70-75 per cent technology products.

“The level of 2032 is to reach 3-nanometer chips manufacturing and design. Design, of course, we are doing even today. But manufacturing we should reach 3 nanometer,” the minister said, after meeting with 24 chip design firms that have been selected under the Design-Linked Incentive Scheme.

The minister said the government now intends to scale up the programme, with a target of enabling at least 50 fabless semiconductor companies in the country in the next phase. The DLI Scheme aims to accelerate domestic chip design capabilities by supporting startups and companies across categories.