A new report by Bastion Research underscores India’s growing significance in the global semiconductor landscape, revealing that nearly 20 per cent of the world’s chip design engineers are based in the country.

This strong foundation has positioned India as a critical hub for semiconductor design, even as the global industry undergoes rapid transformation.

Leading technology giants such as Qualcomm, Intel, Nvidia, Broadcom, and MediaTek have established extensive research and development centres across Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Noida, anchoring India firmly in the global chip design chain.

The report explained that chip development is characterised by a global division of labour. In the United States, engineers primarily focus on high-level architecture and product strategy—deciding what kinds of chips to build, their end-use cases, performance goals, and launch timelines.

Once these foundational decisions are made, Indian teams take over execution. Engineers in India specialise in translating architectural blueprints into working circuits, simulating and testing designs, optimising chips for speed and power, writing essential firmware and device drivers, and fine-tuning electronic design automation (EDA) tools.

While this reflects a complementary division of tasks, the report emphasised that it is not a hierarchical “boss-worker” model but rather a synergistic partnership where the U.S. defines the “what and why,” and India ensures the “how” with precision and scale.

India’s strengths in engineering talent are now supported by government policy initiatives. Under the Semicon India Program (Indian Semiconductor Mission – ISM 1.0) launched in 2021, the government announced incentives worth nearly ₹76,000 crore to attract leading global manufacturers and strengthen the domestic ecosystem.

While progress on semiconductor fabrication (FABS) has been slow, the country’s ambitions are increasingly visible. With a vast talent pool, world-class design expertise, and sustained policy push, India is steadily carving out an indispensable role in the semiconductor value chain and positioning itself as a major contributor to future global technology innovation.

Based On ANI Report