Agnit Semiconductors has emerged from the Indian Institute of Science’s Innovation Centre in Bangalore as the country’s first Gallium Nitride-based semiconductor company.

Founded by six scientists with over 120 research papers to their credit, the Start-Up is determined to rebrand India’s semiconductor industry by moving beyond traditional silicon.

Their vision is to build a globally relevant product within five years, specialising in the design and manufacturing of GaN-powered semiconductors.

The lab at IISc is equipped with advanced devices including a thermal chamber, semiconductor characterisation equipment and electrical test instruments.

This infrastructure reflects years of research and experimentation that have now begun to yield tangible results. Agnit’s founders believe India is not far behind in GaN technology and, with the right incentives and policies, can catch up with global leaders.

Countries such as China, the US, Germany and Taiwan are already established players in GaN semiconductors.

However, India’s National Semiconductor Mission 2.0, with an outlay of ₹1,27,500 crores, provides a strong foundation for competition. Hareesh Chandrasekar, Agnit’s CEO, emphasises that government support must go beyond policy to include acting as customers for indigenous technology.

The team, dubbed the “magnificent seven,” includes five professors and two PhD scholars. Their expertise spans semiconductor device physics, photonics, fabrication processes and wide bandgap materials. Chandrasekar himself worked nearly a decade in the US as a silicon chip designer before returning to India to focus on GaN.

His co-founder Digbijoy Neelim Nath specialises in GaN transistors for power switching and radiofrequency applications. Other members include Madhusudan Atre, a theoretical physicist with decades of experience, Mayank Shrivastava from IIT-Bombay, Shankar Kumar Selvaraja from Ghent University, and Srinivasan Raghavan with deep expertise in fabrication. Muralidharan Rangarajan, a pioneer in materials sciences, was also a co-founder before his passing in 2024.

Their collaboration is marked by animated discussions and interdisciplinary synergy. Agnit’s journey began in 2015 with a proposal to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology for a greenfield GaN foundry. In 2017, approvals were granted for a ₹3,000-crore facility to produce GaN chips, complementing IISc’s Centre for Nano Sciences and Engineering.

Gallium Nitride is a wide-bandgap semiconductor capable of operating at higher voltages, temperatures and frequencies than silicon.

Its advantages include reduced energy losses, lower heat generation and resilience under high electric fields. Applications range from fast chargers and electric vehicles to 5G systems and radars.

Defence remains the most strategic sector, with GaN enabling more efficient radars and communication systems. Agnit has already run five pilot projects for government and private strategic customers, with two products designed and manufactured in India.

These are intended for radars, jammers and radios, with hopes of scaling into commercial production.

India remains heavily dependent on imported semiconductors, with 90–95 per cent of requirements sourced from countries like China, South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore.

NITI Aayog’s Trade Watch report highlights the need for deeper integration into global value chains and a shift towards higher value-added activities. Chandrasekar argues that India need not be fully self-reliant but should focus on strategic areas where it can achieve world-class standards.

The founders stress that technology must prove itself beyond the lab by meeting customer demands for quality, timelines and scalability. Agnit’s mission is to answer these challenges and position India firmly on the global GaN map.

Agencies