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Union Minister for Electronics and IT Ashwini Vaishnaw stated, that India's Design Linked Incentive (DLI) scheme is delivering encouraging results, citing the development of India's first Edge AI System-on-Chip (SoC) — NETRA A2000 — by Thiruvananthapuram-based fabless semiconductor startup Netrasemi as a key milestone.

The NETRA A2000 Achievement

• Netrasemi designed India's first flagship AI System-on-Chip, the NETRA A2000, at the advanced 12nm technology node. The chip has completed successful silicon bring-up — a critical stage that validates chip functionality after fabrication — and is now moving toward commercial production.
• It is designed to support smart vision devices and real-time AI applications across sectors such as surveillance, automotive, robotics, and drones. The SoC integrates Netrasemi's proprietary Neural Processing Unit (NPU), Vision Processing Unit (VPU), Image Signal Processor (ISP), crypto engines, and specialised hardware acceleration IP cores, and was fabricated at TSMC using its 12nm process technology.
• Netrasemi was one of the first four startups selected for ?15 crore DLI support in 2023 by MeitY, and has raised ?125 crore in total funding to date.

About the DLI Scheme

• The Design Linked Incentive (DLI) Scheme is implemented by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) under the broader Semicon India Programme.
• It is a key instrument in advancing India's ambition to develop a strong fabless semiconductor capability — i.e., companies that design chips without owning fabrication facilities.
• The nodal agency for implementation is C-DAC (Centre for Development of Advanced Computing).
• The scheme aims to reduce India's import dependence in semiconductors, strengthen supply chain resilience, and enhance domestic value addition across the full chip lifecycle — from design and development to deployment — covering Integrated Circuits (ICs), Chipsets, Systems-on-Chip (SoCs), Systems, and IP Cores.

Eligibility and Financial Incentives

• Startups and MSMEs are eligible for both financial incentives and design infrastructure support. Other domestic companies are eligible for financial incentives for deploying semiconductor designs.
• The scheme operates through two incentive tracks. Under the Product Design Linked Incentive, eligible entities receive reimbursement of up to 50% of eligible expenditure, capped at ?15 crore per application.
• Under the Deployment Linked Incentive, incentives of 4–6% of net sales turnover are provided for five years, capped at ?30 crore per application, with a minimum cumulative net sales requirement of ?1 crore for startups/MSMEs and ?5 crore for other domestic companies over the first five years.