India’s Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) will develop the country’s first indigenous artificial intelligence inference chip, expected to be ready by 2029 or 2030, Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced. This initiative follows the Cabinet’s approval of a ₹1.27 trillion Semicon 2.0 mission aimed at boosting chip manufacturing, startups, design firms, and research in India, according to livemint.com.
Established in 1988 under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), C-DAC has been pivotal in developing indigenous supercomputers. The Semicon 2.0 mission provides incentives to various stakeholders in the semiconductor ecosystem, including chip factories and design companies, to accelerate domestic production and innovation. Vaishnaw highlighted the government’s commitment to fostering self-reliance in advanced chip technologies through this program, as reported by livemint.com.
The development of an AI inference chip similar to Nvidia’s offerings positions India to reduce dependency on foreign semiconductor suppliers amid a global chip shortage and geopolitical tensions. The ₹1.27 trillion Semicon 2.0 mission is one of the largest government efforts to strengthen the semiconductor sector in India. It complements other initiatives aimed at enhancing the country’s capabilities in AI hardware and software, aligning with global trends in AI chip development.
The Semicon 2.0 mission’s funding and policy framework are designed to support the entire semiconductor value chain in India. The government’s goal is to establish a robust ecosystem that can compete internationally, with the indigenous AI chip project by C-DAC serving as a flagship effort. The timeline for the chip’s launch by 2029-30 sets a clear target for India’s ambitions in advanced AI hardware, as detailed by livemint.com.