India’s first chip design centres dedicated to developing end-to-end 3 nanometer chips will be built in Noida and Bengaluru, union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced on Tuesday.
The facilities, set up by the India unit of Japanese semiconductor manufacturer Renesas Electronics, mark a significant development in India’s efforts to strengthen its semiconductor ecosystem.
“This is India’s first design centre to work on 3 nm chip design, a milestone that places India firmly in the global league of semiconductor innovation,” Vaishnaw said at the event. “Designing at 3nm is truly next-generation. We’ve done 7nm and 5nm earlier, but this marks a new frontier.”
Renesas Electronics has a presence in embedded systems, offering products across automotive, industrial, infrastructure, and IoT sectors. The company is establishing design centres in Noida, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad.
The Union Minister also inaugurated a major semiconductor design centre in Uttar Pradesh as part of India’s broader semiconductor strategy that includes design, fabrication, ATMP (Assembly, Testing, Marking, and Packaging), and supply chains for equipment, chemicals, and gases.
The minister referred to growing international interest in India’s semiconductor plans, noting industry confidence at global events like Davos and investment commitments from companies such as Applied Materials and Lam Research.
Vaishnaw announced a semiconductor learning kit to be distributed to over 270 academic institutions that have already received advanced EDA (Electronic Design Automation) software tools under the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM). “This integration of software and hardware learning will create truly industry-ready engineers. We are not just building infrastructure but investing in long-term talent development,” he said.
The Minister credited the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC) and the ISM team for timely execution and reiterated the government’s commitment to build India into a global semiconductor hub.
He also acknowledged Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s role in including semiconductors under the Aatmanirbhar Bharat programme. “Within just three years, India’s semiconductor industry has moved from a nascent stage to an emerging global hub, and is now poised for long-term, sustainable growth,” he said.
Renesas CEO Hidetoshi Shibata described India as a “strategic cornerstone” for the company. “India’s talent strength and shared Indo-Japan strategic interests will help reinvent the global semiconductor lifecycle,” he said. Shibata added that Renesas is expanding its end-to-end semiconductor capabilities in India and supporting over 250 academic institutions and startups through ISM and PLI schemes.
