Modi calls for global partnerships to build India’s chip ecosystem
New Delhi, Sep 21. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has unveiled an expanded roadmap for India’s semiconductor industry, announcing a $13.5-billion second phase of the India Semiconductor Mission and calling on global companies to partner with Indian startups, design firms and other players to build a complete domestic chip ecosystem.
Addressing the fifth edition of SEMICON India 2026 in New Delhi on September 17, Modi said India had moved rapidly in just a few years from framing semiconductor policy to commissioning projects, developing pilot lines and now achieving commercial production. He said the transition marked a significant change in the country’s semiconductor journey.
The three-day SEMICON India 2026, held from September 17 to 19 under the theme ‘Silicon to Systems: Building the Ecosystem’, brought together companies, investors, researchers, startups, academia and policymakers from India and abroad. More than 600 companies and representatives from 52 countries participated in the event.
Modi said the first phase of the Semiconductor Mission had a financial size of about $8 billion, while the second phase had been scaled up to $13.5 billion. He compared the semiconductor industry’s concept of “tape-out” – when a completed chip design moves into production – with India’s own approach of continuously moving to the next stage of technological development.
He said the government had introduced further regulatory reforms to facilitate collaboration between international companies and Indian startups, design companies and OCI-owned firms.
From policy to commercial production
Recalling the evolution of SEMICON India since its first edition in 2022, Modi said discussions had initially centred on policy and subsequently shifted towards projects and their implementation. The focus later moved to pilot lines and test chips, while the current edition was witnessing the emergence of commercial production.
He noted that semiconductor chips were now being produced in India and reaching customers in the domestic and international markets. Commercial production had also begun at two additional facilities in Mohali and Surat, he said.
Modi stressed that developing a semiconductor ecosystem was significantly more complex than setting up a conventional manufacturing facility because technological capabilities normally take decades to build.
He said India had simultaneously worked on chip design, fabrication, equipment manufacturing, materials, testing and other parts of the value chain, with industry playing a central role in the process.
The Prime Minister called for greater growth of fabless semiconductor companies and domestic intellectual property creation, while identifying compound semiconductors, silicon photonics and infrastructure for artificial intelligence as areas requiring greater attention.
He also urged companies producing semiconductor equipment, chemicals, gases and materials to expand their presence in India, arguing that the 12 projects already approved under the semiconductor programme would generate a growing demand pipeline.
Focus on talent and R&D
Modi identified India’s large pool of engineering talent as another major advantage for the semiconductor industry. He said the government had set a target of training one lakh engineering students for the sector and that more than 70,000 young people had already been trained.
He also appealed to Indian researchers working at home and abroad to contribute to the development of advanced semiconductor technologies in India. Industry leaders, he said, should take a greater role in research and development, thereby creating benefits both for businesses and the country’s pool of skilled young professionals.
AI creates new semiconductor challenges
The Prime Minister also highlighted the technological challenges emerging from the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence.
He said the global semiconductor market had grown by more than 20 percent over the previous two years, with AI-generated demand accounting for a significant share of the expansion.
According to Modi, the rise of AI is shifting the industry’s focus beyond transistor miniaturisation towards challenges such as bringing memory closer to processors, connecting multiple chips to function as integrated systems, moving large volumes of data with minimal latency, and managing heat and power consumption.
Against this backdrop, he said the world was looking for new and reliable manufacturing locations and India was preparing to meet that demand.
Power security key to AI and chip manufacturing
Modi identified energy availability as another critical requirement for the semiconductor industry, particularly as AI data centres consume increasing amounts of computing power.
He said India was therefore investing heavily in its power infrastructure. Solar power capacity, he noted, had risen from around 2 GW to more than 160 GW over the past decade.
The government was also expanding nuclear power, including through the participation of private players and work on small modular reactors, while continuing to strengthen the country’s electricity transmission network, he said.
Modi said the expansion of power infrastructure would provide an important foundation for India’s semiconductor ambitions.
Supply-chain resilience
Linking India’s semiconductor push to the changing global supply-chain environment, Modi said the success of a critical industry in India would have implications beyond the country.
He pointed to concerns over the vulnerability of global supply chains and said India’s emergence as a semiconductor manufacturing base should be viewed in the broader context of supply-chain resilience.
Modi said India’s aspirations and the opportunities being created by its semiconductor programme were open to global investors and technology companies, and reiterated the government’s objective of making India a preferred destination for the industry.
The Prime Minister also linked the launch of SEMICON India 2026 with Vishwakarma Jayanti, drawing a connection between India’s traditional emphasis on creation and craftsmanship and its efforts to build advanced technological capabilities.
The government’s semiconductor strategy now envisages a broader ecosystem spanning design, fabrication, packaging, equipment, materials, R&D and talent, marking a shift from policy formulation towards commercial-scale production and deeper integration into global semiconductor supply chains.
