Context:

• Semiconductors have emerged as the backbone of the global digital economy, powering devices from smartphones to satellites.
• For India, building semiconductor capability is not only an industrial goal but also a strategic necessity to secure economic, technological, and geopolitical independence, and driving the semiconductor revolution in India.

Evolution of Semiconductors:

• Early era: Computers ran on vacuum tubes, occupying entire rooms.
• Modern era: Billions of transistors now fit into fingernail-sized chips, powering mobiles, AI systems, vehicles, and defence equipment.
• Critical role of semiconductors: Semiconductors form the foundation of the digital economy, comparable to steel in the industrial age.

Strategic Importance of Semiconductors:

• National security and growth: Without chips, no communication, AI, renewable energy, or defence is possible.
• Pandemic lesson: Global chip shortages disrupted auto, electronics, and networking sectors.
• Geopolitics: Concentration of chip production in a few regions makes supply chains vulnerable.
• Resource parallel: Just as rare earth magnets shape global power, semiconductors are the key resource of the digital age.

India’s Rising Demand:

• Electronics ecosystem: Over 65 crore smartphone users, electronics manufacturing worth ₹12 lakh crore annually.
• Emerging sectors: AI, data centres, EVs require advanced chips.
• Strategic imperative: India must secure its position in the global semiconductor value chain.

India’s Semiconductor Mission:

• Policy push: Under the India Semiconductor Mission, 10 semiconductor plants have been approved, and the first “Made in India” chip expected this year.
• Pilot production: Sanand unit operational, and four more units to go into production soon.
• Global partnerships: Global leaders such as Applied Materials, Lam Research, Merck, and Linde are investing in supporting factories and supply chains.
• Government role: Clear vision, professional decision-making, state support, and global collaboration.

Talent and Innovation Ecosystem:

• Human capital: India has 20% of the global chip design workforce.
• Training gap: The world is expected to face a shortage of over one million semiconductor professionals by the start of the next decade. India is preparing to fill this gap.
• Skill development:
  • Electronic Design Automation (EDA) tools: Over 60,000 users across 350 institutions and start-ups are using world-class EDA tools provided free of cost by the Government of India.
  • Start-ups: Mindgrove Technologies is developing IoT chips built on the indigenously developed SHAKTI processor from IIT Madras. Netrasemi recently secured a record Rs 107 crore in funding.
  • DLI scheme: Many such start-ups are being nurtured under the Design Linked Incentive (DLI) scheme of the government.
• Student innovation: Semiconductor Laboratory (SCL) Mohali students produced 20 chips, and the facility is being modernised to move India's talent from the classroom to the cleanroom.

Global Collaboration and Investments:

• Industry commitments: Lam Research is going to train 60,000 engineers in India. Applied Materials, AMD, and Microchip are committing $1.1 billion for R&D.
• Academic-industry linkages: Partnerships with IITs, IISc for lab-to-fab training.
• Global partners: Cooperation with US, Japan, EU, Singapore.

Policy Continuum - From Digital India to Semicon India:

• Digital India legacy: UPI, Aadhaar, India Stack, telecom backbone created digital infrastructure.
• Next step: Semiconductor ecosystem to drive electronics manufacturing and self-reliance.
• Semicon India Summit 2025:
  • Participation from over 500 leaders, 48 countries.
  • Dedicated pavilions from Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia.

Future Outlook:

• Goal: Make India a “Product Nation”, exporting chips for telecom, automotive, data centres, consumer and industrial electronics.
• Decadal vision: India positioned to become a global semiconductor hub across the value chain, ensuring economic resilience and technological sovereignty.

Conclusion:

• The semiconductor revolution in India marks a decisive shift from being a consumer of digital technologies to becoming a global producer and innovator.
• With strong policy support, talent development, and international collaboration, Bharat is poised to emerge as a resilient hub in the global semiconductor value chain, shaping the digital future of both itself and the world.