Design Linked Incentive Scheme
Reimburses up to 50% of chip-design spend (capped at ₹15 crore) and then pays 4–6% of net sales for five years.
What you get
Product design incentive up to 50% of eligible expenditure, capped ₹15 crore · deployment incentive 6%–4% of net sales, capped ₹30 crore
Nodal ministry
Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY)
Support type
Mixed
Best suited for
Prototype / PoC · Growth / Scaling · Market Access & IP
Typical timeline
Applications and approvals through the DLI portal
What this scheme actually is
DLI is the most commercially valuable semiconductor scheme available to an Indian startup because it pays twice — once on the design spend, and again on the revenue that design generates. Alongside the money it provides access to EDA tools, IP cores, MPW prototyping and post-silicon validation, which are individually beyond most startup budgets.
Implementing agency: C-DAC / India Semiconductor Mission
What the scheme sets out to do
Who can apply
What you get
How to apply, step by step
- 1
Confirm and protect domestic status
More than 50% beneficial ownership by resident Indians must hold for three years after you claim. A foreign-led funding round inside that window can cost you the incentive — model this before you raise.
- 2
Register on the DLI portal
Application, tracking and electronic approvals all run through chips-dli.gov.in.
- 3
Document eligible expenditure rigorously
Reimbursement depends on a clean, auditable expenditure trail against defined eligible heads. Build the accounting for this from day one, not at claim time.
- 4
Claim the deployment incentive on net sales
Once the product sells, the deployment-linked incentive runs for five years on certified net sales.
What we actually do on a DLI mandate
Services this usually needs
No consultant can guarantee a sanction — that decision sits with the evaluating committee, bank or incubator. We commit to an honest eligibility view, an application built to the evaluator’s format, filing inside the window and a documented follow-up cadence. That is stated in every engagement letter we sign.