Taped out on Republic Day, working by Independence Day: India unveils its first home-designed broadband chip, Vihaan-I
The chip inside your home broadband router was very likely made abroad. A Chennai-based startup now says it has built an Indian alternative.
At Semicon India 2026 at Yashobhoomi, New Delhi, Aheesa Digital Innovations unveiled Vihaan-I, which it describes as India’s first indigenously designed broadband networking chip. The unveiling took place in the presence of Union Minister for Electronics & IT Ashwini Vaishnaw.
A chip with two national dates
Vihaan-I’s timeline carries symbolism. The chip was taped out on Republic Day, January 26, 2026, meaning the design was finalised and sent for manufacturing. It achieved first-pass silicon success on Independence Day, August 15, 2026, meaning the first manufactured version worked without needing a redesign. Chip designers treat that as a mark of engineering maturity.
What it does
According to the company, Vihaan-I brings the core functions of the internet equipment found in homes and offices onto a single chip. It is built on the open-standard RISC-V architecture and powered by the VEGA processor developed by C-DAC. Aheesa positions it as a Made-in-India alternative to the imported silicon that powers most of the country’s telecom and broadband networks today.
At the event, Ashwini Vaishnaw laid out the six pillars of Semicon 2.0, naming chip design as the first. Vihaan-I was among the Made-in-India chips he highlighted. The company says it is a working example of the design-led milestone the semiconductor mission aims to produce.
“Vihaan-I is proof that a Viksit Bharat can use advanced technology and design it,” said Sridharan Mani, Founder and CEO of Aheesa.
“With Vihaan-I, we have a working silicon designed in India, by an Indian team, for India’s networks,” said Saket Singh, Director and Chief Growth Officer. “Our focus is now on getting this chip into the hands of India’s broadband and telecom equipment makers.”
From lab to market
The project is backed by the Ministry of Electronics and IT’s Design Linked Incentive (DLI) Scheme.
Aheesa has lined up partners for the next phase:
Optilink Networks: a packaging MoU covering support from prototyping through to packaging, and joint development of broadband customer equipment built on Vihaan-I
The Zigma Technologies India: a distribution partnership
Commercialisation is targeted for early 2027. The company expects its Vihaan roadmap to extend across broadband, telecom and cybersecurity.
Founded in 2021 and headquartered in Chennai, Aheesa is a DPIIT-recognised fabless semiconductor company. It designs chips and networking technologies for telecom, broadband, cybersecurity and edge computing. In 2026 it secured an investment from the Tamil Nadu Infrastructure Fund Management Corporation (TNIFMC) through the Tamil Nadu Emerging Sector Seed Fund (TNESSF).
Key facts
Chip: Vihaan-I, a broadband and fibre networking chip
Architecture: RISC-V, with C-DAC’s VEGA processor
Tape-out: January 26, 2026
First-pass silicon: August 15, 2026
Commercial launch target: Early 2027