India targets homegrown GPU within two years as it pushes for RISC-V processor commercialization
India's MeitY Secretary announced a plan to develop a domestic GPU in 24 months under Semiconductor Mission 2.0 and commercialize SHAKTI/VEGA RISC-V CPUs, viewing AI as a Y2K-like opportunity.
S. Krishnan, Secretary of India's Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), stated in a November 4 interview that under the "India Semiconductor Mission 2.0," the country intends to develop an indigenous graphics processing unit (GPU) within the next 24 months. "We should have a GPU chip of our own. This will not happen overnight. It is a project that will require approximately 24 months, and we intend to work towards that objective," Krishnan said. The initiative aims to build a self-reliant hardware ecosystem and reduce dependence on foreign chip suppliers.
Beyond GPUs, India plans to bring its SHAKTI and VEGA processors, based on the open-source RISC-V architecture, to commercial markets. These CPU designs allow local developers to build processors without relying on proprietary instruction sets. Previous efforts include the C-DAC developed VEGA ET301 processor used in the Aries 3.0 development board for IoT applications. Additionally, the government's Design-linked Incentive (DLI) program has supported 24 companies in areas such as microcontrollers, drone flight controllers, and smart meter chips.
Krishnan compared the current AI boom to the Year 2000 (Y2K) bug transition, suggesting Indian IT firms could benefit by helping global businesses integrate AI operations, similar to how they capitalized on software services demand at the turn of the century. While NITI Aayog estimates that AI adoption could make about 2 million existing jobs redundant, it also projects the creation of 4 million new roles. India's semiconductor market is currently valued at approximately $50 billion and is expected to approach $100 billion by 2030.