New Delhi: The first of the 10 projects cleared under the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM 1) is set to commence commercial production by the end of February, S Krishnan, Secretary at the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), said on 16 February.
Speaking at the India AI Impact Summit, Krishnan said that Micron Technology will begin manufacturing high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, a critical component for artificial intelligence workloads. HBM plays a key role in supporting high-performance computing and AI applications that require faster data processing and lower power consumption.
Krishnan also highlighted that India Semiconductor Mission 2.0, announced in the Union Budget on 1 February, aims to deepen domestic manufacturing capabilities through continued policy and financial support. The next phase of the mission is expected to build on the foundation laid under ISM 1 and accelerate investments across the semiconductor value chain.
He further noted that recent Budget announcements have provided clarity on tax treatment for overseas companies establishing AI cloud and data centre infrastructure in India for global operations. The move is expected to enhance India’s appeal as a destination for large-scale computing infrastructure.
Emphasising India’s infrastructure advantage, Krishnan pointed to the country’s extensive power grid and growing renewable energy capacity, positioning India as a scalable and green data centre hub capable of meeting both domestic and global AI demand.
He added that the government’s AI strategy has focused on subsidising access to computing resources rather than directly funding the creation of data centres, making semiconductors and computing central to India’s broader technology roadmap.
