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Electronics and IT Secretary S Krishnan announced at Semicon India 2025 that the government plans to broaden the DLI scheme beyond startups and MSMEs to include larger domestic semiconductor design companies.
 
About Design Linked Incentive (DLI) Scheme

The Design Linked Incentive (DLI) Scheme is a government initiative focused on the semiconductor design sector, offering financial incentives and infrastructure support for domestic companies, startups, and MSMEs engaged in semiconductor design and deployment.

It has three key components: Chip Design Infrastructure Support, Product Design Linked Incentive, and Deployment Linked Incentive over a period of 3-5 years.
 
Key Design Elements of the Link Incentive Scheme:

• Objective: Nurture growth of domestic semiconductor design companies, startups, and MSMEs; promote indigenization and import substitution in electronics.
• Financial Incentives:

• Product Design Linked Incentive: Up to 50% reimbursement on eligible expenses, capped at ₹15 crore per application.

• Deployment Linked Incentive: 4%-6% of net sales turnover over 5 years, capped at ₹30 crore per application.

• Infrastructure Support: C-DAC sets up India Chip Centre providing access to design tools, IP cores, and wafer fabrication support.
• Eligibility: Domestic companies, startups, MSMEs maintaining domestic status for at least 3 years, meeting threshold sales criteria annually.
• Duration: Initially 3 years from January 2022, with a 5-year outlook for achieving turnover and scaling benefits.
• Nodal Agency: Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), under Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY).

This scheme aligns incentives with key semiconductor design development stages to foster a self-reliant ecosystem in semiconductor design in India through financial aid and shared infrastructure access.

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