India's semiconductor mission chief says five of 12 approved chip projects are in production

Amitesh Kumar Sinha, also additional secretary at the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, spoke on the second and final day of the ISIG Executive Summit India 2026, the first edition of the summit held in India, The Hawk reported. He said India has approved 12 manufacturing projects, of which five have begun commercial production.

The five are Micron, Kaynes, CDIL, Suchi Semicon and CG Semi, a joint venture between Indian, Japanese and Thai partners, according to Gulf News. Business Standard reported that the 12 approved units, under the India Semiconductor Mission launched in December 2021, carry cumulative investment of more than Rs1.64 lakh crore, about $17 billion. It listed the mix as one silicon fab, one silicon-carbide fab and nine packaging units, an enumeration that accounts for 11 of the 12 approved projects.

Semicon 2.0 funds the wider supply chain

The Cabinet has approved Rs1,27,500 crore, about $13.23 billion, for Semicon 2.0, which covers six areas: design, machines and materials, fabs, assembly and packaging, research and development, and talent. Sinha said the scheme is meant to build a broader ecosystem that includes design companies, materials, chemicals, gases and equipment alongside manufacturing, research and talent, The Hawk reported. Under the first mission, 24 design projects from start-ups and MSMEs have been approved for financial support, and 105 have been given access to EDA tools, according to the government. About 68,000 students have been trained in chip design at 315 universities.

Imports still meet most demand

Semiconductor imports rose from $5.7 billion in FY17 to $30.3 billion in FY25, a 23 per cent compound annual growth rate, the EY-IESA report found. That single-year import bill exceeds the $17 billion in cumulative planned investment across the 12 approved projects. NITI Aayog estimates imports meet 90-95 per cent of current demand. India recorded a net trade deficit of $23.5 billion in chips in 2024, according to trade data compiled by NITI Aayog.

The domestic base remains shallow. Electronic components accounted for only 9 per cent of India's electronics production in 2023-24, against around 42 per cent globally in 2022, Business Standard reported. Domestic value addition in mobile phone making is 18-20 per cent, compared with 38-40 per cent in the world's largest producer, ICEA chairman Pankaj Mohindroo said. The EY-IESA report projects India's semiconductor market will grow from nearly $64 billion in 2026 to $200 billion by 2035.

Next milestones

India's first semiconductor fab is scheduled to be commissioned in 2028, the government has said. An assembly and test plant in Assam is expected to begin commercial production next year, Hindustan Times reported. The remaining packaging units and the fabs have yet to reach production.