Semicon India Programme / India Semiconductor Mission

What is the Semicon India Programme?

Semicon India Programme is a Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) programme to build a semiconductor and display manufacturing ecosystem in India, approved with a total outlay of Rs 76,000 crore. The programme is implemented by the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM), the nodal agency set up under MeitY for this purpose.

Be clear about who this is for: Semicon India funds companies, not individuals. Fabrication plants cost billions of dollars, and the programme's instrument is capital subsidy to firms willing to build them in India. There is no citizen application, subsidy or personal benefit under it.

According to the ISM portal, the programme covers "Silicon Semiconductor Fabs, Display Fabs, Compound Semiconductors / Silicon Photonics / Sensors (including MEMS) Fabs, Semiconductor Packaging (ATMP / OSAT) and Semiconductor Design".

Key objectives

• Establish domestic semiconductor and display fabrication capacity.
• Build the packaging and testing layer: ATMP and OSAT, that sits between chip fabrication and product assembly.
• Grow India's chip design capability from services into products and IP.
• Reduce strategic dependence on imported semiconductors.

Main features

• Original outlay of Rs 76,000 crore, with fiscal support of 50% of project cost on a pari-passu basis under the Modified Schemes.
• Semicon 2.0 approved subsequently with a fiscal outlay of Rs 1,27,500 crore across six pillars.
• ISM acts as the single-window nodal agency for appraisal and implementation.
• Support is pari-passu; released alongside the applicant's own investment, not upfront.

Who is eligible under the Semicon India Programme?

Companies can apply if they:

• Are companies or consortia proposing to set up a semiconductor fab, display fab, compound semiconductor or sensor fab, ATMP/OSAT packaging facility, or semiconductor design operation in India.
• Can demonstrate access to proven process technology, typically through a technology partner or licensing arrangement, for fab proposals.
• Have the financial capability to fund their share. Support is disbursed pari-passu, so the government's contribution matches the applicant's spending rather than preceding it.
• Meet the capacity, technology node and localisation commitments set out in the relevant scheme guidelines.

You cannot apply if:

• You are an individual, a student, engineer, researcher or job seeker. Semicon India has no individual application route of any kind.
• You are a company without the capital or technology access to meet the scheme's appraisal thresholds. Chip fab proposals are appraised on technical and financial credibility, and most applicants are rejected.
• Your proposal falls outside the notified categories of fab, packaging, equipment, materials or design activity.

Students interested in semiconductors reach this programme through their university, under the talent development pillar, not through a funding application to ISM.

How much fiscal support does Semicon India provide?

Semicon 1.0. The Modified Schemes. According to PIB, the Modified Scheme for setting up Semiconductor Fabs in India extends fiscal support of 50% of the project cost on a pari-passu basis for silicon CMOS-based fabs. The same 50% pari-passu support applies to display fabs, to compound semiconductor, silicon photonics, sensor and discrete semiconductor fabs, and to ATMP/OSAT facilities.

Semicon 2.0. The successor programme. The Union Cabinet approved Semicon 2.0 with a fiscal outlay of Rs 1,27,500 crore. Support rates published by the India Semiconductor Mission are:

The reduction from 50% to 40% under Semicon 2.0 reflects a shift in approach: the first phase was about proving India could attract fabs at all, the second about building the surrounding supply chain at sustainable subsidy levels.

What are the six pillars of Semicon 2.0?

India Semiconductor Mission sets out six pillars for Semicon 2.0:

1. Design; chip IPs, system design and innovation, with seed funding, IP tools and deployment-linked incentives aimed at startups and MSMEs.
2. Machines and materials; incentivising domestic manufacture and R&D of semiconductor equipment, specialty chemicals, industrial gases and critical substrates.
3. Fabs; silicon fabs, compound semiconductor fabs, discrete component fabs and display fabs.
4. ATMP and OSAT: advanced Assembly, Testing, Marking and Packaging, and Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test units.
5. Research and development: moving beyond the 28 nm to 110 nm nodes India currently supports, towards advanced process nodes.
6. Talent development: training expanded across 320 universities, with around 70,000 students already trained according to ISM.

What has the Semicon India Programme achieved?

As of December 2025, 10 projects with a total investment of about Rs 1.60 lakh crore had been approved across six states, per PIB. These cover:

• Silicon fabrication units
• Silicon carbide fabs
• Advanced packaging and memory packaging facilities
• Specialised assembly and testing infrastructure

Government statements in 2026 have cited investment of the order of Rs 1.52 lakh crore and roughly 85,000 jobs associated with the programme. Figures vary across statements depending on the cut-off date and whether committed or realised investment is being counted, so treat any single number as point-in-time.

What documents does a company need for a Semicon India application?

How to apply under the Semicon India Programme

Individuals cannot apply. The steps below describe the company application route run by the India Semiconductor Mission.

1. Check the current scheme notification on ism.gov.in: Semicon 1.0 and Semicon 2.0 are listed separately, each with its own guidelines, eligible categories and application window.
2. Determine the applicable category, silicon fab, compound semiconductor or display fab, ATMP/OSAT, equipment and materials, or design; since fiscal support rates differ by category.
3. Prepare the detailed project report covering capacity, technology node, capital expenditure, phasing, localisation and employment commitments.
4. Secure and document the technology partnership or licensing arrangement, and evidence of funding tie-ups for the applicant's share of project cost.
5. Submit the application to the India Semiconductor Mission through the route specified in the relevant scheme notification, within the applicable window.
6. Respond to ISM's technical and financial appraisal, which examines technology credibility, promoter capability and the realism of the capex plan.
7. On approval, execute the agreement with MeitY/ISM and draw fiscal support pari-passu against verified project expenditure, alongside any state government incentive package.

For queries on the current application window, write to ism-dic@gov.in, scheme windows open and close by notification, and the ISM website does not always carry a live status indicator.

How do students and engineers benefit from Semicon India?

There is no individual grant, but the talent development pillar is the route for people rather than companies. ISM reports training expanded across 320 universities with around 70,000 students already trained. Access is through your institution's participation in ISM-supported programmes: chip design courses, EDA tool access and internship pipelines with beneficiary companies.

Jobs created by approved projects are filled through those companies' own recruitment, not through MeitY or ISM. Anyone claiming to secure you a job or a grant under Semicon India for a fee is not operating legitimately.

Where to get help with Semicon India

• India Semiconductor Mission: ism-dic@gov.in
• ISM office: 16th Floor, B-Wing, IFCI Tower, 61 Nehru Place, New Delhi 110019
• ISM portal: ism.gov.in; Semicon 1.0 and Semicon 2.0 scheme pages
• MeitY: gazette notifications and scheme guidelines

A note on sourcing: MeitY's own website and several PIB pages return access errors to automated retrieval. The figures in this guide were verified against the India Semiconductor Mission portal at ism.gov.in, PIB press releases accessible in indexed form, and the Prime Minister's Office announcement of the Semicon 2.0 cabinet approval. Investment and project-count figures shift between government statements, so this guide dates them where possible.

How to check your application status

Semicon India has no citizen-facing tracking portal or SMS status system, because the applicant is a company, not an individual, and the appraisal process runs company-to-agency rather than through a public dashboard. If your company has submitted a proposal to the India Semiconductor Mission, use these channels to follow up:

• Direct correspondence with ISM. Write to ism-dic@gov.in quoting your application or proposal reference number and the scheme notification (Semicon 1.0 or Semicon 2.0) under which you applied. This is the primary route for a status update, since ISM does not publish a self-service tracker.
• Nodal officer or single-window contact. Most applicants are assigned a point of contact within ISM during the appraisal stage. Follow up with that named contact rather than a generic email address once appraisal has begun; ISM's process is relationship-driven at this stage, not ticket-driven.
• State government liaison. Because most approved projects also carry a state incentive package, the state's industry or IT department handling your parallel state application often has visibility into where the central appraisal stands, and can be a secondary channel for a status check.
• Public announcements as a lagging indicator. Cabinet approvals and project clearances are announced through PIB releases and the Prime Minister's Office. If your project reaches Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approval, it will typically appear in a PIB release before or alongside any formal communication to you, so monitoring PIB is a useful secondary signal, not a substitute for direct follow-up.
• No status without a submitted proposal. ISM does not maintain a waitlist or queue number for companies that have merely expressed interest; a status check is only meaningful once a formal application against a specific notified scheme has been filed.

There is no helpline number for individuals to check on Semicon India, because the scheme has no individual application to check on. Job seekers or students asking "where is my Semicon India application" have usually confused this scheme with a personal benefit programme; the correct channel for training or internship access is your university's participation in the talent development pillar, not ISM's appraisal desk.

Common reasons for rejection

Because Semicon India appraises capital-intensive corporate proposals rather than individual applications, rejections happen at the technical and financial diligence stage, not for paperwork errors. The concrete reasons projects fail appraisal, and what fixes each one:

• No demonstrated access to proven process technology. A large share of fab proposals are turned down because the applicant cannot show a binding technology transfer or licensing agreement with an established fab operator. The fix is to secure and document the technology partnership before applying, not to promise one will follow approval.
• Financing plan does not stand up to scrutiny. Since support is released pari-passu against the applicant's own spend, ISM examines whether the promoter can actually fund its share of a multi-billion-rupee project. Proposals backed by soft commitments, letters of intent instead of firm funding tie-ups, or promoter balance sheets that cannot absorb the exposure, are rejected on financial capability grounds. The fix is to close funding arrangements, whether equity, debt or a strategic investor, before submission.
• Capacity or technology node claims are unrealistic. A detailed project report that overstates achievable capacity, understates the capital cost per unit of capacity, or proposes a technology node beyond what the named technology partner has actually proven at scale, fails technical appraisal. The fix is to have the project report reviewed against comparable fab economics before it goes to ISM, not after a rejection.
• Proposal falls outside the notified category. Semicon India funds specific categories, silicon and display fabs, compound semiconductor and sensor fabs, ATMP/OSAT packaging, and semiconductor design and equipment. A proposal that does not map cleanly onto one of these notified categories, or that mixes semiconductor activity with unrelated manufacturing, is rejected as out of scope. The fix is to structure the corporate entity and project scope around a single notified category before applying.
• Employment and localisation commitments are vague or unverifiable. ISM assesses job creation and localisation plans as part of appraisal; a project report that treats these as an afterthought, without phased hiring numbers or a localisation roadmap, weakens the application even when the core technical and financial case is sound. The fix is to build a specific, phased employment and localisation plan into the project report from the start.
• Applying as an individual or an ineligible entity. Individuals, unregistered partnerships, or entities without the corporate structure to hold the capital investment and enter into the ISM/MeitY agreement are turned away outright, since the scheme's entire design assumes a company or consortium as the counterparty. There is no fix for this beyond incorporating an appropriate corporate entity before approaching ISM.

Government appraisal processes for capital subsidy programmes of this scale rarely publish a formal rejection letter with itemised reasons; companies that are declined typically learn this through the absence of further engagement or a direct communication from ISM, which is another reason to treat the technology, financing and localisation groundwork above as pre-application requirements rather than things to fix after a setback.