India’s First Homegrown Chip Nears Launch as Semiconductor Mission Accelerates
Photo Credit: @AshwiniVaishnaw
India is on the brink of a historic technological milestone as its first homegrown semiconductor chip is set to roll out soon. Union Minister for Information and Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw announced that six semiconductor plants are currently under construction in Gujarat, Assam, and Uttar Pradesh, marking a major step towards the country’s self-reliance in advanced technology manufacturing.
Speaking at the ‘Next-Gen Mobility for a Next-Gen City’ programme, the minister said, “Very soon, we’ll see the first made-in-India chip roll out of these factories.” He highlighted the government’s strong push to make Artificial Intelligence (AI) accessible to all under the India AI Mission, which provides 34,000 Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) as a shared computing resource for innovators. These GPUs are available at less than USD 1 per hour, making it the most affordable such facility globally.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, also present at the event, reiterated India’s commitment to becoming self-reliant in technology. He stated that India’s path to Viksit Bharat will advance alongside the Digital India initiative, while the India AI Mission is paving the way for the nation to attain global leadership in artificial intelligence, and the Semiconductor Mission continues to gather strong momentum.
The Union Cabinet approved sixth semiconductor manufacturing unit in Jewar, Uttar Pradesh, in May. This plant, a joint venture between the HCL Group and Taiwanese electronics giant Foxconn, will employ about 2,000 people and have a capacity of 20,000 wafers per month, producing up to 36 million chips monthly.
The remaining five facilities include the Tata Electronics-PSMC Semiconductor fab, CG Power-Renesas-Stars Microelectronics ATMP unit, Micron Technology’s ATMP unit, and Kaynes Semicon ATMP unit, all situated in Gujarat, along with the Tata Semiconductor Assembly and Test (TSAT) unit in Assam. All these facilities, under the Semicon India Programme, with the total investment plan of ₹76,000 crore are looking forward to develop a strong semiconductor and display manufacturing ecosystem in the country.
The government has also introduced Special Economic Zone (SEZ) reforms tailored to the semiconductor and electronics component sectors. These changes aim to encourage high-investment manufacturing in industries that are capital-intensive, import-dependent, and have longer gestation periods.
Vaishnaw also underlined India’s rapid rise in electronics manufacturing, with production value increasing sixfold in the last 11 years to ₹12 lakh crore. Electronics exports have grown eight times, reaching ₹3 lakh crore, while India has emerged as the second-largest mobile phone manufacturer in the world.
In 2014, only 26% of mobile phones sold in India were domestically made, with the rest being imports. Today, 99.2% of mobile phones sold in the country are manufactured locally. The value of mobile phone production has jumped from ₹18,900 crore in FY14 to ₹4,22,000 crore in FY24, driven by the expansion from just two manufacturing units in 2014 to over 300 today.
With its semiconductor plants, AI mission, and electronics manufacturing surge, India is steadily building a strong foundation to emerge as a global technology powerhouse in the coming decade.
Source: The Economic Times
