On India’s 79th Independence Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, speaking from the Red Fort, shared big news about the country’s push into semiconductor manufacturing — a field India has been slow to enter despite decades of discussions.
PM Modi said that the idea of making semiconductors in India started moving 50–60 years ago, but it was delayed and blocked for many years. As a result, other countries advanced in this field while India lagged behind.
He explained that his government has removed these hurdles and is now working on semiconductors in “mission mode.” According to him, six semiconductor manufacturing units are already under development, and four new ones have just been approved.
Most importantly, PM Modi announced that by the end of this year, the first Made in India semiconductor chip — designed and built entirely in India — will be available in the market.
Recently, the Union Cabinet approved four new semiconductor projects worth around ₹4,600 crore under the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM). These will be set up in Odisha, Punjab, and Andhra Pradesh, and will focus on:
- Chip fabrication
- Advanced glass substrate packaging
- High-power component manufacturing
With these new projects, India now has 10 semiconductor plants approved under ISM, worth nearly ₹1.60 lakh crore, spread across six states.
The government says these facilities will help:
- Boost domestic chip design and manufacturing
- Meet growing demand in telecom, automotive, defence, data centres, and electronics
- Create over 2,000 skilled jobs directly and many more indirectly
PM Modi connected this semiconductor push to his Viksit Bharat 2047 vision, saying that becoming self-reliant in critical technologies like semiconductors is essential for India’s true independence.
