NEW DELHI: India plans to invest $13 billion in the second phase of its semiconductor mission, as it seeks to build a domestic chip ecosystem covering design, manufacturing, assembly and testing. The aim is to reduce the country’s heavy dependence on imported chips while the surging domestic demand is expected to touch $200 billion by 2035, according to a new report.
The report from The Times Kuwait highlights that the government has already approved 12 semiconductor projects across six states, with Micron, Kaynes Semicon and CG Semi beginning commercial production this year, mainly in assembly, testing and packaging rather than advanced wafer fabrication.
A Tata Electronics–Taiwanese Powerchip partnership in Dholera, Gujarat, is targeting its first chip output in December, while Tata has also signed an $11 billion memorandum of understanding with ASML for advanced chipmaking serving industries including automobiles and artificial intelligence.
India’s strongest advantage is its established position in semiconductor research and design. The country has a very large pool of chip-design engineers, but faces a shortage of fab-floor operators and process engineers needed to manage wafer production and convert raw silicon into functioning chips, the article states.
It underscores that the talent base is increasingly becoming a central part of the government’s strategy. Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said India aims to develop 100,000 semiconductor engineers, while 85,000 have already been trained in four years, compared with an original 10-year target.
Semiconductor design programmes are now available at 355 universities, including institutions in smaller cities and towns.
