New Delhi: India is set to develop advanced semiconductor chipsets capable of powering high-end applications such as CCTVs, marking another step toward technological self-reliance, Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Saturday. The government will invest over Rs 200 crore to build energy-efficient microprocessors designed for high-performance computing, including servers, he added.
Highlighting India’s growing indigenous capabilities, Vaishnaw said that semiconductors have become central to the global digital economy, driving progress in healthcare, transport, defence, communication and space. “India’s semiconductor journey has moved from vision to reality within just four years,” he noted, referring to the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM), launched in 2021 with an outlay of Rs 76,000 crore. Of this, nearly Rs 65,000 crore has already been committed to various projects.
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) is now preparing the next phase of the programme – Semicon 2.0 – through consultations with multiple ministries to strengthen India’s position in the global semiconductor ecosystem.
Vaishnaw also cited the success of Indian innovations such as the railway anti-collision system Kavach, the UPI payment platform and the enterprise software suite Zoho, which now serves over 12 lakh central government employees. Zoho, headquartered in Chennai, operates more than 55 apps and employs over 18,000 people globally.
The minister reiterated Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call to adopt Swadeshi products and maintain high-quality standards for Made in India goods. India’s electronics manufacturing sector, he said, has grown from Rs 2.4 lakh crore in 2014 to Rs 9.8 lakh crore in 2024. Mobile phone production alone touched Rs 4.4 lakh crore, with exports worth Rs 1.5 lakh crore and 98 per cent of the phones used in India are now made domestically.
