SEMICON India 2026 wraps with 15 announcements on chips, AI and skilling

SEMICON India 2026 drew to a close at Yashobhoomi in New Delhi on Tuesday, with the concluding session yielding 15 announcements and collaborations aimed at deepening the country's semiconductor design, fabrication and talent capabilities.

The initiatives, spanning indigenous computing, artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, fab management, start-up engagement and workforce development, brought together government institutions, industry, academia and skilling bodies.

Indigenous processors in focus

The Digital India RISC-V (DIR-V) Grand Challenge, run by Maker Village under MeitY's Chips to Startup (C2S) Programme, announced its winners after drawing 1,236 teams and 5,045 participants nationwide. Three teams shared prize money of Rs 60 lakh.

Meevisai Technologies, representing Team Digital Dawgs from SASTRA University, Thanjavur, took first place for an autonomous water-surface cleaning robot built on the SHAKTI processor developed at IIT Madras. Digiscope LLP, representing Team Binary Bandits from ER&DCI Institute of Technology, Thiruvananthapuram, won second prize for VEGA Chikitsa, a digital stethoscope using the CDAC-developed VEGA processor that captures heart and lung sounds with real-time filtering and supports remote monitoring and machine-learning-assisted murmur screening. Zetawave Technologies, representing Team NeuroBytes from IISc Bengaluru, placed third for a forest-environment monitoring system, also built on the VEGA processor.

New platforms and challenges

The second edition of the Bharat AI-SoC Challenge was launched for undergraduate and postgraduate students and working professionals in AI and system-on-chip design. Supported by the UK government under the UK-India Technology Security Initiative, it will remain open for a month.

The Semi-Conductor Laboratory, Mohali, launched DMIS, an indigenous manufacturing execution system for wafer-fabrication management, with a modular architecture covering order booking through final packaging.

C-DAC unveiled PARAM Vidya, a deployable AI Excellence Lab-in-a-Box for universities, research institutions, start-ups and MSMEs, and inaugurated PARAM Shavak-QS, a compact quantum simulation platform for research and education.

Sovereign computing partnerships

C-DAC and NLC India Limited will collaborate on a data centre within the energy-sector ecosystem using indigenous technologies. C-DAC and Bharat Electronics Limited will jointly develop high-performance computing, AI and sovereign data-centre solutions, pairing C-DAC's computing technologies with BEL's integration and deployment capabilities.

Skilling and start-up push

The Electronics Sector Skills Council of India announced partnerships with Maitrio Labs for semiconductor training infrastructure and with Truechip Solutions for training and certification in circuit design, verification and testing. SEMI and Peachtree Elevate exchanged an MoU on workforce development, while NIELIT outlined ATMP skilling and a Digital Twin for Semiconductor Manufacturing. RIASAT and IISc Bengaluru also exchanged an MoU.

The SEMICON India Hackathon drew 3,808 team registrations from 881 colleges and 1,053 ideas, with teams from VIT Vellore and IIT Madras winning. Under Startup Mitra, 11 start-ups pitched to more than 20 venture capital investors, with Elphins Technologies taking first place.

EY and the India Semiconductor and Electronics Association released a report projecting growth in India's semiconductor market from nearly USD 64 billion in 2026 to USD 200 billion by 2035.