India has become an indispensable part of the global semiconductor design ecosystem, with nearly 20 percent of the world’s chip design engineers based in the country, according to a new report by Bastion Research.
The report underlined India’s strong position in the semiconductor design chain, noting that global technology leaders including Qualcomm, Intel, Nvidia, Broadcom, and MediaTek operate large research and development centres in cities such as Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Noida. This concentration of talent has helped India evolve into one of the leading global hubs for chip design.
Explaining the international workflow, the report highlighted that engineers in the United States typically define the architecture and strategy of chips—answering questions on purpose, features, performance, and target markets. Indian engineers, meanwhile, play a central role in the execution stage, handling logic design, simulation, power and speed optimisation, driver and firmware development, as well as fine-tuning electronic design automation (EDA) tools.
The report stressed that this collaboration is not a “boss versus worker” relationship but rather a complementary partnership, with the U.S. shaping the “what” and “why” of chips while India delivers the “how” with scale and precision.
India’s role is further reinforced by policy initiatives. In 2021, the government launched the Semicon India Programme (Indian Semiconductor Mission 1.0), offering incentives worth around ₹76,000 crore to attract global manufacturers and build a stronger domestic ecosystem.
Although India is yet to establish large-scale semiconductor fabrication plants, its vast engineering talent pool, proven design capabilities, and policy support are positioning it as a key player in the global semiconductor value chain.
