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Endiya Partners, a leading early-stage deeptech venture capital firm, has released a comprehensive report titled “India’s Semiconductor Moment: Perspectives from DEMO”, capturing key insights from DEMO: Semiconductors, the inaugural edition of its new DEMO (Deeptech Exponential Market Opportunities) platform. The initiative aims to showcase India’s deeptech innovation across verticals including semiconductors, biotech, cybersecurity, and AI, through live product demos, policy discussions, and investor engagement.
The first edition, held on September 22, 2025, at the Bangalore International Centre, brought together over 100 entrepreneurs, investors, policymakers, and corporate leaders to explore India’s semiconductor design and manufacturing readiness.
The report positions India at a decisive stage in semiconductor development. India currently employs 150,000 semiconductor design engineers, accounting for roughly 20% of global design talent, within a broader pool of 220,000 professionals in design, manufacturing, and packaging. Despite this, India contributes less than 0.5% of global fabrication capacity, highlighting the opportunity to connect strong design capabilities with manufacturing depth.
Since the launch of the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) in December 2021 with an outlay of ₹76,000 crore ($8.67 billion), the initiative has mobilized ₹1.6 trillion (~$18 billion) in private investments across 10 approved projects, creating capacity for approximately 90 million chips per day. India’s domestic semiconductor market is projected to grow from $52 billion to $103 billion by 2030, driven by AI infrastructure, electric mobility, 5G/6G networks, defense modernization, and industrial automation.
According to Sateesh Andra, Managing Partner, Endiya Partners, “India is evolving from a consumption-driven market into a design-and-manufacturing powerhouse. DEMO: Semiconductors showcased how deeptech entrepreneurs are converting design depth into investable IP and application-specific silicon solutions.”
The report identifies seven key opportunity areas for India:
•EDA and IP Development
•Analog / Mixed-Signal / RF
•Power Semiconductors
•Chiplets and Advanced Packaging
•Test and Metrology
•Tools and Equipment
•Trusted Supply Chains for automotive, telecom, defense, and data-center applications
More than 100 semiconductor startups are now active in India, covering design, EDA, AI chips, and power devices. Venture investments rose from $5 million in 2023 to $28 million in 2024, supported by the India Deep Tech Investment Alliance’s $1 billion commitment over the next decade. The Design Linked Incentive (DLI) Scheme has approved ₹803 crore for 23 projects, supporting 278 institutions and 72 startups, resulting in six tape-outs and ten venture-funded companies. The report also outlines structural challenges:
•Manufacturing Gaps – No operational advanced-node fabs; limited ATMP/OSAT capacity
•Infrastructure Dependence – High energy (~169 MWh/fab annually) and water (~8.9 million gallons/day) requirements
•Talent Shortfall – Estimated deficit of 10,000–13,000 specialized manufacturing professionals by 2027
Early progress is visible, with three greenfield projects under ISM targeting pilot production by 2026–27, signaling a shift from design-led activity to manufacturing outcomes. Domestic demand is also growing, driven by automotive electronics, industrial IoT, and defense systems, while global OEMs seek supply-chain diversification beyond East Asia.
Former MeitY Secretary Ajay Prakash Sawhney emphasized the importance of multi-stakeholder dialogue to address deeptech challenges. Executives from Intel, AMD, NXP, Qualcomm, Texas Instruments, and Marvell highlighted India’s increasing significance in their global R&D and design networks.
