Powering India’s smart meter rollout, Cyient-backed fabless firm plans commercial launch of 40nm chip by June 2026.
India is expected to commission its first domestically designed 40nm semiconductor chip for smart meters by June 2026, marking a major step towards reducing reliance on imported power management components. The project is being led by Cyient, backed by the government-supported semiconductor firm Agnext, which is currently conducting evaluation tests on the chip, according to senior company officials.
The chip, developed over three years, will power advanced smart meters—key to India’s digital utility management and the nationwide rollout of automated, real-time electricity consumption tracking. The government aims to deploy 300 million smart meters by 2030, as part of its energy reforms and infrastructure digitalisation goals.
According to Rajasekhar Reddy, Managing Director at Cyient Semiconductor, the indigenous chip will significantly cut production costs, ease supply-chain vulnerabilities, and reduce dependence on foreign vendors. Reddy added that the chip could later be adapted for applications beyond metering, including IoT devices and automotive electronics.
The initiative aligns with the Centre’s ₹760 billion semiconductor incentive scheme, which aims to build a domestic ecosystem across design, testing and fabrication. Industry analysts say successful commercialisation could boost investor confidence in India’s nascent fabless sector.
Experts note that semiconductor self-sufficiency is critical to tackling shortages that have disrupted global supply chains since the pandemic, particularly in energy and mobility sectors.
