Modi inaugurates SEMICON India, targets top-6 global semiconductor nation by 2032

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the fifth edition of SEMICON India in New Delhi on September 17, 2026, saying the country's chip industry is booming and "Indian chips will go global."

At the event, Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw revealed that NVIDIA, AMD, Intel and other chip giants are conducting advanced chip design work in India, including 2nm chips. He said India aims to become one of the world's top six semiconductor nations by 2032 and reach the top three by 2047, leveraging advantages in quality and cost.

This year's expo, themed "From Silicon to Systems: Building the Ecosystem," attracted more than 600 exhibitors and 300 international companies. India has stepped up semiconductor investment, launching the Semicon India Programme in 2022 and approving a Rs 1.275 trillion Semicon 2.0 plan in July 2026, covering chip design, equipment, materials, wafer fabrication, advanced packaging, R&D and talent training.

However, challenges remain in semiconductor manufacturing. Of the 12 wafer fabrication and packaging projects approved so far, only three—from Micron, local firms Kaynes Semiconductor and CG Semi—have started commercial production, mostly in assembly, testing and packaging rather than advanced wafer fabrication. Some observers argue India should first prove it can mass-produce mature 28nm chips before advancing to cutting-edge nodes.