The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is likely to fund at least six chip design projects in 2024 under the Telecom Technology Development Fund (TTDF). The value of the projects to be funded is around Rs 500-1000 million.
These chip design projects are separate from those under the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) scheme, and are primarily focused on chips for next-generation broadband consumer premise equipment (CPE), 5G modem and radio chip for dongles, chips for internet of things (IoT) products, satellite communication equipment, and digital signal processors for 5G infrastructure, etc.
So far, the government has disbursed Rs 3 billion to around 400 companies under the TTDF scheme. The DoT, along with the Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT), is evaluating another 600 proposals as part of TTDF. The evaluation is being done on parameters such as technical feasibility of the solutions proposed, market size and impact on the target segment of consumers, potential for import substitution, originality and national importance, go-to-market plan, and team expertise.
However, given the focus on telecom technologies and research and development (R&D), disbursements can be to the tune of Rs 30-40 billion from the fiscal year 2023-24 (FY24) onwards.
Additionally, under the TTDF 2.0 scheme where the deadline to submit proposals ended on October 31, 2023, the DoT has received over 200 applications from startups, local companies, and academic institutions to develop technologies for 5G, 6G, backhaul CPE for mobile and satellite communication, telecom network cyber security and routers, among other areas.
