Lok Sabha Question No. 268 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-11-27
Subject: Startup Accelerator for Product Innovation
Ministry: ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: Shri Vishnu Datt Sharma

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.268

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 27.11.2024

## STARTUP ACCELERATOR FOR PRODUCT INNOVATION

## 268.   SHRI VISHNU DATT SHARMA:

Will the Minister of ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY be pleased to state:

- (a)     whether the Government has launched a Startup Accelerator for product innovation, development and growth in electronics and information sector during the recent past and if so, the details thereof;
- (b)        whether  the  Government  has  proposed  to  scale  up  its  network  of  incubators  and accelerators and if so, the details thereof; and
- (c)        the  details  of  the  other  steps  taken  by  the  government  to  boost  the  electronics manufacturing in the country?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI JITIN PRASADA)

(a) to (c): The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has undertaken various initiatives and measures to promote a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship in the country.

The  Startup  Accelerator  of  MeitY  for  Product  Innovation,  Development,  and  Growth (SAMRIDH) programme was launched in August 2021 for a period of three years (further extended  for  one  year)  to  accelerate  around  300  Startups  through  existing  and  upcoming Accelerators. At present, under SAMRIDH programme, 175 startups have been selected and accelerated through 22 selected Accelerators spread across 12 States of India.

Further,  MeitY  has  initiated  the  'Gen-Next  Support  for  Innovative  Startups  (GENESIS)' Scheme with the aim to strengthen the startup ecosystem in Tier-II and Tier-III cities across India. The scheme envisages scaling up about 1,600 technology startups, to discover, nurture and grow technology startups with an outlay of Rs. 490 Crore over period of five years and is being implemented by MeitY Startup Hub (MSH).

Further, Government has been implementing following programs focused on development of electronics manufacturing:

1. Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for Large Scale Electronics Manufacturing : So  far,  incremental  investment  of  Rs  9,349  Crores  had  been  made  under  this  PLI scheme. This has led to production of more than Rs 6 Lakh Crores.
2. PLI scheme for IT hardware: So far, incremental investment of Rs 501 Crores has been made under this PLI scheme. This has led to production of more than Rs 10,245 Crores.
3. Government has approved Semicon India programme with a total outlay of Rs 76,000 crore  for  the  development  of  semiconductor  and  display  manufacturing  ecosystem  in the country for:
- a. Setting up of Semiconductor Fabs in India which provides a fiscal support of 50% of the project cost on pari-passu basis  for  setting  up  of  Silicon Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (CMOS) based Semiconductor Fabs in India.
- b. Setting up of Display Fabs in India which provides for a fiscal support of 50% of Project Cost on pari-passu basis for setting up of Display Fabs in India.
- c. Setting  up  of  Compound  Semiconductors  /  Silicon  Photonics  /  Sensors  Fab  / Discrete  Semiconductors  Fab  and  Semiconductor  Assembly,  Testing,  Marking and Packaging (ATMP) / Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT) facilities  in  India  which  provides  for  a  fiscal  support  of  50%  of  the  Capital Expenditure  on pari-passu basis  for  setting  up  of  Compound  Semiconductors  / Silicon Photonics (SiPh) / Sensors (including Micro-Electromechanical System) Fab/ Discrete Semiconductor Fab and Semiconductor ATMP / OSAT facilities in India.
- d. Providing incentives on design through 'Design Linked Incentive (DLI) Scheme' which provides 'Product Design Linked Incentive' of up to 50% of the eligible expenditure subject to a ceiling of ₹15 Crore per application and also 'Deployment Linked Incentive' of 6% to 4% of net sales turnover over 5 years subject to a ceiling of ₹30 Crore per application.
8. 3.1   Government has also approved modernisation of Semi-Conductor Laboratory, Mohali to enhance efficiency and cycle time.
9. 3.2      To  further  support  semiconductor  manufacturing  and  creating  a  semiconductor ecosystem in the country, Government has entered in Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with USA, European Union, Japan and Singapore.
10. 3.3   Further, Government is also actively working in collaboration with world class players in semiconductor ecosystem. M/s. Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) has announced to set up a collaborative engineering centre in Bengaluru with an investment of 400 million dollars over 4  years.  As  part  of  this,  India  Validation  Centre  has  already  been  set  up  in  Bengaluru  by AMAT.  This  engineering  centre  is  focused  on  development  and  commercialisation  of technologies for semiconductor manufacturing equipment.
11. 3.4   India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) has also entered in to an MoU with LAM Research for skilling of engineers in semiconductor manufacturing.
12. 3.5      M/s.  AMD  has  established  its  largest  global  design  center,  AMD  Technostar,  in Bengaluru.  This  centre  is  focused  on  the  design  and  development  of  semiconductor technology including 3D stacking, artificial intelligence, and machine learning.
13. 3.6  Under the Semicon India Programme, up to 2.5% of the outlay of the scheme has been earmarked for meeting the R&D, skill development and training requirement.
14. 3.7      India  is  well  on  its  path  to  create  a  robust  semiconductor  ecosystem  in  the  country. Presently, India is already one of the most  important players in the designing of semiconductor chips and provides for almost 20% of design engineers (Industry reports).
15. 3.8    Further,  under  Semicon  India  Programme,  Government  has  already  approved  five  (5) semiconductor projects with cumulative investment of around Rs. 1 lakh 52 thousand crore. Further,15  semiconductor  design  companies  have  also  been  approved  under  the  Design Linked Incentive Scheme to design chips for Indian products. Additionally, 41 semiconductor design companies have been approved for access of the tools required for designing the chips (called  Electronic  Design  Automation  (EDA))  which  is  being  made  available  by  National EDA Tool Grid setup at ChipIN Centre at C-DAC Bengaluru.
16. 3.9    To create the skilled manpower for chip design, Government has launched the Chips to Startup ('C2S') programme which plans to train 85 thousand specialized workforce at about 113 participating institutions in Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) and Embedded System Design.
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