Local electronics design to get $4 billion incentives boost

The Centre plans to roll out a new scheme of up to $4 billion to propel India into the global league of electronics design through local development of products and components, three officials with direct knowledge of the matter said.

- Shouvik Das

The design-linked incentives (DLI) scheme, which will run over several years, will support companies across 30 semiconductor and 30 electronics categories, the people cited above said on the condition of anonymity. The incentives will be given based on the amount of capital investments (capex) as well as turnover of companies.

The idea is to create an ecosystem that encourages tech and design patents, which will not just multiply industry revenue at a later point but also cushion the country against global developments that may thwart imports of key components or products.

A task force of industry veterans created by the Centre last August submitted its report to the ministry of electronics and information technology (Meity) in December. The report is now being assessed by Meity officials and is expected to be submitted for cabinet approval in the coming weeks. Subject to approval, it will then be announced in the following months.

"Right now, despite being under global pressure, the US has the likes of Apple, Nvidia and all the other technology companies in India—whose biggest value are their technology reference designs and IPs," the first official cited above said, adding the DLI scheme is aimed at giving a boost to product design, fabless chipmakers, original design manufacturers (ODMs) and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in India.