India’s semiconductor ambitions are entering a new phase.
At SEMICON India 2026, the government used the first day of the event to outline Semicon 2.0, a broader strategy that moves beyond the immediate goal of setting up semiconductor fabrication plants and focuses on building the ecosystem needed to support them.
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The shift is significant. Semiconductor manufacturing does not depend on fabs alone. It requires chip designers, equipment makers, materials suppliers, advanced packaging facilities, precision manufacturers, researchers and a skilled workforce. The government’s new roadmap attempts to bring all of these pieces together.
Around Rs 1 lakh crore in investment commitments have already been received across the Semicon 2.0 ecosystem. The investments, estimated at about $11-12 billion, are expected to materialise over the next two to three years as companies complete board and shareholder approvals. The government expects the proposed investments to create close to one lakh employment opportunities.
Union Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the next phase would focus on six broad areas: semiconductor design, machines and materials, fabrication facilities, advanced packaging, applied research and development, and talent development.
From designing chips to designing systems
One of the clearest changes under Semicon 2.0 is the expansion of support for semiconductor design.
The government is targeting 200 semiconductor design start-ups under the expanded programme. During the first phase, 105 start-ups received support, with 20 of them already securing venture capital funding.
The focus, however, is no longer limited to individual chip designs. The government wants Indian companies and engineers to move towards systems design, allowing them to work on more complex technology requirements and potentially capture a larger share of the semiconductor value chain.
This could be important because semiconductor strength is not measured only by how many chips a country manufactures. The ability to design those chips and integrate them into larger systems can determine how much value the domestic industry captures.
Building the machinery behind the fabs
The next challenge is what surrounds the fabrication plants.
Semicon 2.0 places greater emphasis on developing domestic capabilities in semiconductor manufacturing machines, equipment and materials. India is looking to use its existing engineering and design capabilities to attract global semiconductor equipment companies for both design and manufacturing operations.
Precision manufacturing is also part of this strategy. Such capabilities could support semiconductor production while serving other advanced industries, including aerospace, aviation and electronics.
The government is therefore attempting to create a supplier ecosystem around semiconductor manufacturing rather than relying on individual fabrication facilities operating in isolation.
More fabs, more technologies
Fabrication capacity will remain an important part of the programme.
The expansion is expected to cover several technologies, including display, memory, silicon, compound and logic fabs. The objective is to widen India's manufacturing base rather than concentrate the country's semiconductor ambitions around a single type of chip or facility.
But manufacturing is only one part of the equation.
Advanced packaging has been given a separate place in Semicon 2.0 because packaging increasingly influences chip efficiency and overall system performance. As semiconductor architectures become more sophisticated, packaging can become an important part of the technology itself rather than simply the final step after manufacturing.
Turning research into products
Research and development is another area where the government wants industry to play a larger role.
Companies will be encouraged to propose applied R&D projects involving government and academic institutions. Funding will be shared between industry and the government, with an emphasis on technologies that can eventually be translated into practical applications.
The approach reflects a broader attempt to connect India's academic and engineering capabilities with commercial semiconductor requirements.
The talent question
No semiconductor ecosystem can expand without people capable of designing, manufacturing and operating it.
Around 400 universities and institutions are already involved in semiconductor chip-design education under the first phase of the programme. Semicon 2.0 proposes to upgrade those curricula, moving students from foundational chip-design skills towards systems design.
The government also plans to train one lakh technicians over five years through partnerships with industry and international institutions, including Taiwan's Industrial Technology Research Institute, or ITRI.
This is particularly important because semiconductor manufacturing requires a wide range of specialised skills, from engineering and design to equipment maintenance, precision manufacturing and production operations.
The ecosystem is already expanding
The first day of SEMICON India 2026 also produced a series of agreements showing how the broader strategy is beginning to take shape.
There were 11 MoUs and five other announcements covering different parts of the semiconductor value chain.
Tata Electronics signed an MoU with Nexperia covering semiconductor wafer manufacturing, assembly and testing, technology collaboration and innovation. It also entered an agreement with Ascendas First Space to develop a 363-acre vendor park in Dholera, Gujarat, around its semiconductor fabrication facility.
Separate agreements with Fujifilm Corporation and JSR Corporation will focus on localising and supplying critical semiconductor materials and advanced chemicals. An MoU with BESI Singapore will focus on advanced packaging capabilities in India.
Tata Electronics also signed an MoU with Semiconductor Laboratory covering semiconductor design services, process technology, supply-chain localisation and talent development.
Kaynes Semicon announced agreements with OptoML India, GridCrest Technologies and Sensesemi covering areas including advanced packaging, System-on-Module solutions, assembly and testing.
Elsewhere, India Semiconductor Mission and Intel India launched an 'Introduction to Semiconductors' course. Intel India and the New Age Makers' Institute of Technology also signed an agreement focused on workforce development in artificial intelligence and semiconductor technologies.
Six ChipIN Regional Centres were announced to expand access to chip-design capabilities across the country.
Production activity is also moving forward. Suchi Semicon and eInfochips exchanged their first batch of commercial devices, while commercial production of CDIL semiconductors was announced along with an association with Japan's Shindengen Electric Manufacturing Company for package development.
What Semicon 2.0 is really trying to change
The larger significance of Semicon 2.0 lies in this shift from individual projects to an ecosystem.
India's first semiconductor push was heavily focused on attracting and establishing manufacturing facilities. The next challenge is ensuring that those facilities have access to the equipment, materials, chemicals, gases, packaging technologies, engineers, designers and supply chains they need.
The government says semiconductor facilities that have already entered commercial production are competing in global markets, with customers taking up their production capacity. Facilities under construction are also adding capacity rapidly.
The next test, therefore, is whether this momentum can extend beyond the fabs themselves.
SEMICON India 2026, which runs until September 19 at Yashobhoomi in New Delhi, brings together more than 600 participating companies and is expected to attract around 50,000 visitors from 52 countries. More than 400 executives and over 150 speakers are taking part, alongside country pavilions from Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Singapore and Sweden.
There are also 12 state booths, a startup pavilion, an innovation showcase, a student hackathon and a workforce development pavilion.
Taken together, the announcements point to a broader ambition: not simply to make more chips in India, but to build the network of companies, technology, talent and infrastructure required to make India a more complete participant in the global semiconductor industry.
