The Indian semiconductor landscape is undergoing a monumental shift, evolving from traditional CPU-centric designs into a vibrant ecosystem powered by edge AI, system-level software, and local manufacturing. At electronica India 2026, Vaishali Umredkar, Editor of Semiconductor For You, met with Srikanth Nagaraj, Senior Director at Renesas Electronics India, to discuss how the company is driving this transformation.
🎥 Featured Video Interview: Srikanth Nagaraj, Sr. Director, Renesas Electronics India
“Till about 2020, there was a CPU-oriented mindset… But now, it has moved towards an AI mindset. People are not looking at just chipsets alone; they are looking at a systemic solution that evolves for their products in the Indian scenario.”
A Mindset Shift Toward System-Level AI & Localized Manufacturing
Reflecting on the industry’s evolution, Srikanth emphasized that Indian engineering has moved beyond standalone chipsets toward complete system-level solutions. To support this shift, Renesas is customizing hardware and software proof-of-concepts (PoCs) to accelerate time-to-market for local OEMs.
Aligned with the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM), Renesas partnered with CG Power on an Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT) facility, where local clients are already conducting internal audits. Since expanding its India R&D presence in 2023, Renesas has built a team of more than 1,000 employees, underscoring India’s growing importance as a global center for semiconductor design, innovation, and manufacturing.
Shaping Automotive, Physical AI, and University Talent
Srikanth highlighted Electric Vehicles (EVs), Software-Defined Vehicles (SDVs), and ADAS as core drivers for Indian automotive electronics, alongside mandatory safety features like Driver Monitoring Systems (DMS) and two-wheeler ABS. Furthermore, to tackle the power demands of Physical AI and data centers, Renesas’ Specialized Power Division is delivering energy-efficient silicon and liquid/air cooling technologies.
Renesas is also actively nurturing local talent via the government’s Chips to Startup (C2S) program and university partnerships.
Key Technology Demonstrations at electronica India 2026
Renesas showcased three live demonstrations at their booth, highlighting their end-to-end silicon and software integration:
- Industrial Vision AI & Fanless Edge Acceleration: Powered by the Renesas RZ/V2N and its proprietary DRP-AI accelerator (up to 15 TOPS sparse / 4 TOPS dense), the setup ran a Driver Monitoring System and object detection concurrently — with no heat sink required. Alongside it, high-resolution industrial HMI was demonstrated on the all-new RZ/G3L, Renesas’ HMI-focused MPU in the RZ/G series.
🎥 Watch Video: Vision AI & Industrial HMI Demo
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- Automotive 5-in-1 Integrated Powertrain: This next-generation integrated powertrain consolidates the Motor, Motor Control Unit (MCU), Vehicle Control Unit (VCU), On-Board Charger (OBC) and DC-DC Converter into a unified platform managed by a single RH850/U2B microcontroller. By minimizing component count and system interconnects, it enables a more compact, lightweight, and cost-effective design while improving overall system efficiency, reliability, and ease of integration.
🎥 Watch Video: Automotive 5-in-1 Integration Demo
- Edge AI Robotics Arm (Renesas University Program): Students from PSG College of Technology showcased an AI-powered robotic arm running on the EK-RA8P1 board (dual Arm Cortex-M85/M33 with Ethos-U55 NPU). Processing three AI vision models locally with zero cloud latency, it performs real-time hand-gesture recognition for precise motor control.
🎥 Watch Video: Edge AI Robotics Demo
Bottom Line
As Srikanth concluded, this is the most exciting era for Indian electronics. Supported by robust government policies, local OSAT packaging, and university engagement, India is rapidly positioning itself as a global leader in semiconductor innovation.
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