Bengaluru — American chipmaker Qualcomm has successfully completed the tape-out of its cutting-edge 2-nanometer chip design, marking a watershed moment for India's semiconductor ambitions. The breakthrough, achieved through contributions from Qualcomm's engineering centers across Bengaluru, Chennai, and Hyderabad, demonstrates India's emergence as a genuine player in advanced semiconductor design rather than just manufacturing.
Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw unveiled this achievement at Qualcomm's Bengaluru facility on Saturday, underscoring India's shift from being a back-office destination to a hub for end-to-end semiconductor product development.
Key Facts
• Qualcomm's India teams successfully taped out the 2nm chip design across three major centers: Bengaluru, Chennai, and Hyderabad, with each die housing nearly 20 billion transistors
• Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced India Semiconductor Mission 2.0, with semiconductor design as the topmost priority, supported by 315 universities now equipped with Electronic Design Automation (EDA) tools nationwide
• Approximately 67,000 semiconductor engineers have been trained under Semicon India Mission 1.0 (target was 85,000), and India aims to advance from current 28-nanometer manufacturing capabilities to 7-nanometer technology within coming months
Qualcomm's India engineering footprint now represents its largest operation outside the United States, spanning over two decades of continuous investment. The company's teams contribute across design implementation, validation, artificial intelligence optimization, and system integration, supporting global architecture and platforms that power billions of devices worldwide.
Senior Vice President of Engineering at Qualcomm India, Srini Maddali, emphasized the significance of this achievement, stating that the 2nm tape-out validates the engineering depth already present in the country. The breakthrough signals that India is transitioning from simply assembling chips to actively designing the future of advanced semiconductor technology.
The 2nm chip integrates both CPU and GPU capabilities, enabling what Minister Vaishnaw described as "
" — whether in cameras, Wi-Fi routers, devices, automobiles, trains, or aircraft. This represents the most advanced process node currently in the semiconductor industry, offering greater performance and energy efficiency for next-generation electronic devices.
Minister Vaishnaw credited India's growing talent pipeline and ecosystem maturity for these technological advancements. He highlighted that students from 315 universities can now design chips, tape them out at the Semiconductor Laboratory in Mohali, and validate final products — a capability he noted is rare globally, with few countries possessing such an integrated educational-industrial model.
Under India Semiconductor Mission 2. 0, announced in the Union Budget by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the government will prioritize semiconductor design companies and startups, followed by equipment and materials manufacturing, deeper talent development for complete system-level design, and expansion of fabrication and assembly, testing, marking, and packaging units.
Amitesh Kumar Sinha, Additional Secretary at the Ministry of Electronics & IT and CEO of India Semiconductor Mission, noted that "
" He emphasized that Qualcomm's long-term commitment reflects the growing depth of India's design ecosystem and contributes to India's broader ambition of becoming a globally competitive hub.
❝ India is increasingly at the center of how advanced semiconductor technologies are being designed for the future,❞ Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said, calling the development a testament to the growing maturity of the country's design ecosystem and aligned with India's ambition to build a globally competitive semiconductor industry.
This milestone comes at a critical juncture when India is accelerating efforts to position itself as a global semiconductor hub through policy support, ecosystem incentives, and industry partnerships. The successful 2nm tape-out demonstrates that India is not just assembling chips for the world, but increasingly helping design the future of semiconductor innovation.
As the Minister emphasized, the government will soon roll out the complete roadmap for advancing from 28nm to 7nm manufacturing capabilities, with preparations expected to be completed within coming months. Industry observers and stakeholders should monitor the announcement of Semicon India Mission 2.
0's detailed implementation guidelines and funding allocations.
Do You Know?
The 2nm chip wafer unveiled by Minister Vaishnaw contains approximately 20 to 30 billion transistors, with each die housing nearly 20 billion transistors. To put this in perspective, a single 2nm chip contains more transistors than there are people on Earth, showcasing the incredible precision and complexity of modern semiconductor engineering.
Key Terms
• Tape-out: The process of finalizing a semiconductor chip design and preparing it for manufacturing; it's the final design phase before the chip goes into production
• 2-nanometer (2nm) Process: The most advanced semiconductor manufacturing technology available today, where transistors are measured at the 2-nanometer scale; smaller transistors mean more processing power in less space
• EDA Tools (Electronic Design Automation): Software platforms used by engineers and students to design semiconductor chips and verify their functionality before manufacturing
• Semiconductor Design Ecosystem: The interconnected network of companies, educational institutions, research centers, and government policies that support chip innovation and development
Image from Wikimedia Commons