Union Electronics Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has approved the establishment of the NaMo Semiconductor Laboratory at IIT Bhubaneswar, marking another decisive move in India’s drive to become a global semiconductor powerhouse. The Rs 4.95 crore project, sanctioned under the MPLAD Scheme, aims to equip young engineers with cutting-edge chip design skills as India transitions from being a chip consumer to an emerging producer.
Of the total allocation, Rs 4.6 crore will fund advanced semiconductor design equipment, while Rs 35 lakh will be directed towards high-end software. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology noted that the initiative will “nurture industry-ready talent for the chip manufacturing and packaging facilities coming up across Bharat.”
The announcement comes on the heels of a major national milestone – Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s unveiling of India’s first domestically produced semiconductor chips in September 2025. With nearly 20 percent of the world’s chip design workforce and participation from 295 universities in EDA (Electronic Design Automation) programmes, India is quickly solidifying its place in the global semiconductor value chain.
Odisha’s selection as the site for the new lab underscores its growing role in India’s semiconductor ecosystem. The state has recently secured two major projects under the India Semiconductor Mission – a Silicon Carbide (SiC)-based compound semiconductor facility and a 3D glass packaging unit. The new laboratory will also strengthen IIT Bhubaneswar’s Silicon Carbide Research and Innovation Centre (SiCRIC), launched earlier this year with a Rs 45 crore investment.
With India’s semiconductor market projected to surge from $38 billion in 2023 to over $100 billion by 2030, initiatives like the NaMo Lab are critical in building the nation’s technical foundation. As Vaishnaw remarked at SEMICON India 2025, “once the foundation is set, growth accelerates exponentially.”
