IP Insights: How The DLI Scheme Is Shaping India's Semiconductor IP Ecosystem

Introduction

The Government of India, through the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), continues to strengthen India's semiconductor ecosystem under the Semicon India Programme. A key pillar of this initiative is the Design Linked Incentive (DLI) Scheme, which directly targets the creation, ownership, and commercialization of semiconductor intellectual property (IP) within India.

From an intellectual property law perspective, the DLI Scheme is a significant policy intervention, as it prioritizes domestic generation of high-value chip design IP, encourages patent filings, and reduces India's dependence on foreign proprietary semiconductor technologies.