Fabless by Design: The Case for Indian Custom Silicon

The global semiconductor shortage of 2021–2023 exposed a fundamental vulnerability in every nation's technology supply chain. India, which consumes enormous quantities of chips and produces almost none, is determined to change this.

The Fabless Model

India cannot compete with TSMC or Samsung in fab economics. But India can — and should — compete in chip design. The fabless model, pioneered by Qualcomm and Broadcom, separates design from manufacturing. Indian engineers are among the best chip designers in the world.

The next great fabless semiconductor company should come from India. The talent is here. The capital, until now, was not.

What We Are Doing

We are building a portfolio of India-origin fabless chip companies across three verticals: (1) AI inference at the edge, (2) power management, and (3) photonic integrated circuits. Each represents an area where Indian engineering talent can create IP that is globally defensible.

The timing has never been better. India Semiconductor Mission, PLI schemes, and the IIT-ISRO talent pipeline create a compounding advantage that compounds every year we build.