India Showcases First Secure Chip with Smart OS for Digital Identity Use

Government officials in New Delhi have unveiled a secure integrated circuit solution, fully developed within India, designed to underpin future digital identity systems including e-passports. All intellectual property is said to reside domestically, marking a significant milestone in the nation’s tech self-sufficiency drive.

The secure IC is embedded with a “smart OS”, enabling secure authentication, encryption, and identity verification. It is intended for deployment in identity credentials issued by federal authorities. Verification features include tamper resistance, cryptographic protection of stored data, and interoperability with global identity verification standards. The OS is modular, allowing updates and extension of features such as biometric modules, NFC, and remote authentication.

The development is part of the broader India Semiconductor Mission and Semicon India Programme, with an investment outlay of ₹76,000 crore supporting chip fabrication, assembly, display fabs, and design projects. The pilot line for this secure chip is being hosted in Gujarat at an OSAT facility.

Sources indicate that ten semiconductor manufacturing projects have been approved across six states—Gujarat, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Odisha, and Andhra Pradesh—with total investment commitments exceeding ₹1.60 lakh crore. These projects include multiple fabs, ATMP/OSAT facilities, and chip design initiatives.

Among recent achievements is the development of Vikram-3201, a 32-bit space-grade processor by the ISRO Semiconductor Laboratory, presented to the Prime Minister at Semicon India 2025. It has been validated in the PSLV-C60 mission and is said to be robust under extreme launch-vehicle conditions. It was fabricated using a 180 nm CMOS process.

The secure IC is expected to be somewhat different in specifications from Vikram-3201: targeted more towards identity and citizen services rather than space applications. Performance metrics are likely less extreme, but security requirements—such as resistance to physical tampering, side-channel attack mitigation, secure boot, and cryptographic module certification—are being prioritised. Implementation of secure OS standards is underway.

In tandem with hardware development, the government has accelerated IP and design ecosystem support. Under the Design Linked Incentive scheme, 23 design projects have been approved to foster startups, MSMEs, and academic participation. Skill development in VLSI design, packaging, EDA tools, and fab-operations is being emphasised.

Policy observers note that global supply-chain disruptions and geopolitical shifts have provided a backdrop that intensifies India’s push for technological sovereignty. External partnerships—for example in materials, equipment, packaging technologies—are being pursued to fill gaps in the domestic ecosystem.

Challenges remain. Process node maturity is one area—while the 180 nm node is proven and reliable for many applications including space, more advanced nodes dominate consumer electronics and high-performance identity solutions globally. Also, certifications for security standards, supply of trusted materials, secure hardware lifecycle management, and scaling production to volumes needed for national identity issuance will test capacity. Ensuring interoperability with international identity verification frameworks will also be essential.