Indian Startup Mindgrove Wins Praise for Indigenous IoT Chip Design

Mumbai: Union Railways and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Monday lauded Chennai-based startup Mindgrove Technologies for designing secure Internet of Things (IoT) chips, describing the achievement as a significant step in India’s march towards self-reliance in semiconductors.

Speaking about the development, the minister said chipsets built on indigenous intellectual property (IP) are central to India’s ambition of becoming a global product nation. “Bharat steps up efforts to be a product nation. Chipsets with our own IP is an important objective in this journey,” Vaishnaw posted on X.

Mindgrove, incubated at IIT-Madras in 2021, has developed IoT chips designed for CCTV cameras, Industry 4.0 applications, and other connected devices. The company received support under the government’s Design Linked Incentive (DLI) scheme, which reimburses up to 50 per cent of eligible costs for Indian chip-design firms. Recently, it secured ₹15 crore in funding under the scheme to build its new “Vision SoC” chip, meant for high-performance edge computing and vision processing.

Vaishnaw noted that the microcontroller system-on-chip designed by Mindgrove will also enable secure indigenous solutions for strategic sectors, reducing dependence on imported technologies.

The recognition for Mindgrove comes amid a wider national push to strengthen India’s semiconductor ecosystem. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his Independence Day address, said Made-in-India semiconductor chips would reach the market by the end of 2025.

Last week, the Cabinet cleared four new semiconductor projects worth ₹4,600 crore—two in Odisha and one each in Andhra Pradesh and Punjab. With these additions, the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) has approved a total of 10 projects across six states.

Officials said the progress underlines India’s resolve to build a robust domestic chip industry, blending government support, startup innovation, and institutional expertise.