In a moment of pride for Belagavi and India’s deep-tech community, Parag Naik, the co-founder and CEO of Saankhya Labs, was awarded the prestigious Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Telecom Excellence Award 2025 at the 9th edition of the India Mobile Congress (IMC): Innovate to Transform, held in New Delhi.
The award was presented by the Hon’ble Minister of Communications, Shri Jyotiraditya Scindia, recognizing Parag’s relentless contributions to telecom innovation, indigenous semiconductor development, and the broader “Make in India” mission — long before it became a national rallying call.
Parag, a proud son of Belagavi, Karnataka, is a tech entrepreneur who has consistently chosen the harder path — building silicon and wireless communication technologies in India when such ambition was considered nearly impossible. “While others were building dot-com companies, he was chasing chipsets,” said a senior industry insider.
Saankhya Labs, under his leadership, became India’s first and only fabless semiconductor company to design and market cognitive software-defined radio (SDR) chipsets and advanced wireless communication systems. Fittingly, “Saankhya” is derived from the second chapter of the Bhagavad Gita, symbolizing knowledge and clarity — qualities that define Parag’s journey in India’s tech evolution.
In 2022, Saankhya was acquired by Tejas Networks, a Tata Group company, marking a significant milestone for Indian innovation-led M&A. Today, Parag continues to inspire as he contributes to national initiatives to replicate the Saankhya model and foster deep-tech manufacturing from the ground up.
He is also a co-founder and board member of Vayavya Labs, another pioneering electronics design automation (EDA) company based in Belagavi.
Parag holds 50+ international patents and is a recipient of the IESA Techno Visionary Award, conferred by the India Electronics and Semiconductor Association.
As India accelerates toward 5G, 6G, and satellite-based broadband connectivity, leaders like Parag Naik are ensuring that the nation isn’t just a consumer of global tech but a bold creator of it.