India plans to develop homegrown GPUs and commercialize processors within 2 years

India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has unveiled an ambitious plan to develop an indigenous graphics processing unit (GPU) within the next two years. This move is part of a broader national strategy to build a robust semiconductor ecosystem and reduce reliance on foreign chip suppliers.

• India is initiating GPU development under the India Semiconductor Mission 2.0.
• Plans include commercializing the homegrown SHAKTI and VEGA processors based on RISC-V architecture.
• The government is focusing on five core layers: energy, accelerator chips, infrastructure, AI models, and applications.
• Officials view the current AI boom as a strategic opportunity comparable to the Y2K era for the IT sector.

RISC-V and Domestic Hardware Sovereignty The SHAKTI and VEGA platforms, built on the open-source RISC-V architecture, are transitioning from development boards like the Aries 3.0 to practical applications. These processors have already been utilized in projects ranging from autonomous cleaning robots to forest monitoring systems. By backing these efforts with the Design-linked Incentive (DLI) program, India aims to foster a local ecosystem that avoids proprietary design traps.

Scaling Semiconductor Manufacturing Beyond research, India is aggressively attracting foreign investment to build physical infrastructure. Partnerships between Tata Electronics and ASML, as well as Intel, aim to establish commercial fabrication facilities. These plants are expected to produce 300mm wafers at scale, supporting the government's target to reach a $100 billion semiconductor market by 2030.

What This Means for the Industry This pivot toward hardware represents a significant evolution in India's technology sector, moving from service-based delivery to end-to-end hardware design. For global developers, the push into RISC-V could offer a viable, open alternative to established architectures. If successful, India could position itself as a key supplier in the global AI hardware chain, providing a new path for high-performance computing hardware.