New Delhi [India], February 9 (ANI): The Union Budget 2026-27 marked a decisive second for India’s expertise ambitions with the announcement of India Semiconductor Mission 2.0.
The new part alerts a transparent coverage push to deepen home semiconductor capabilities, as chips underpin each crucial digital and industrial system. ISM 2.0 will give attention to producing semiconductor gear and supplies in India, designing full-stack Indian semiconductor mental property, and fortifying each home and world provide chains.
A provision of Rs. 1,000 crore has been made for ISM 2.0 for FY 2026-27, with a robust emphasis on industry-led analysis and coaching centres to drive expertise improvement and create a future-ready expert workforce.
Semiconductors are the spine of recent electronics, powering computer systems, cell gadgets, telecommunications, vehicles, defence methods and synthetic intelligence. India has made regular progress in consolidating earlier investments right into a full-stack worth chain of its semiconductor ecosystem beneath ISM 1.0, increasing design capabilities and advancing fabrication, meeting and testing infrastructure throughout the nation.
According to {industry} estimates, the scale of the Indian semiconductor market was about USD 38 Bn in 2023, USD 45-USD 50 Bn in 2024-2025, and is anticipated to succeed in USD 100-USD 110 Bn by 2030. This growth is anchored within the nationwide Make in India and Make for the World imaginative and prescient, positioning India as each a producing base and a worldwide provider.
The basis of this progress was laid with the approval of India Semiconductor Mission 1.0 by the Union Cabinet in December 2021. The Mission is supported by an incentive framework of Rs 76,000 crore, providing fiscal assist of as much as 50 per cent for silicon fabs, compound semiconductor services, meeting and testing models, and chip design.
As of December 2025, 10 tasks totalling Rs 1.60 lakh crore have been authorised throughout 6 states. These embrace silicon fabrication models, silicon carbide fabs, superior and reminiscence packaging services, and specialised meeting and testing infrastructure. Together, they’re shaping a resilient home semiconductor ecosystem.
By 2029, India is anticipated to realize the aptitude to design and manufacture chips required for almost 70-75 per cent of home purposes. Advancing on this basis, the following part beneath Semicon 2.0 will give attention to superior manufacturing, with a clearly outlined roadmap to realize 3-nanometre and 2-nanometre expertise nodes. By 2035, India goals to be among the many prime semiconductor nations globally.
These services are anticipated to satisfy the rising chip necessities of key sectors akin to shopper home equipment, industrial electronics, vehicles, telecommunications, aerospace, and energy electronics. Notably, a number of authorised proposals are leveraging indigenous applied sciences for the meeting, testing, and packaging of semiconductor chips.
India’s semiconductor programme has been recalibrated in response to intensifying world competitors and the focus of superior chip applied sciences amongst a restricted variety of gamers. Several international locations with established semiconductor ecosystems are providing aggressive incentives, making it vital for India to refine its method. The modified programme subsequently focuses on strengthening monetary assist for investments throughout semiconductor manufacturing, show fabrication, and the design ecosystem.
For 2026-27, the Modified Programme for Development of Semiconductor and Display Manufacturing Ecosystem in India has a complete monetary outlay of Rs 8,000 crore. The programme goals to speed up capital funding, generate top quality employment, and develop home capabilities throughout fabrication, packaging, and chip design. The projected outcomes for the 12 months are outlined under.
Projected Outcomes for 2026-27
Employment generated: 1,500 individuals
Modified Scheme for Compound Semiconductors, Silicon Photonics, Sensors, Discrete Fabs and Assembly, Testing, Marking, and Packaging (ATMP)/ Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT) (Units to be Supported – 9)
Investment by models in the course of the 12 months: Rs 11,000 crore
Employment generated by supported models: 3,000 individuals
Design Linked Incentive Scheme (Design corporations to be supported – 30)
Semiconductor IP cores to be developed: 10
Semiconductor design manpower employed: 200 individuals
Together, these outcomes mirror a robust push in direction of scaling home manufacturing, deepening design capabilities, and creating a talented workforce to assist India’s long run semiconductor ambitions.
Semiconductors have grow to be crucial to the functioning of recent economies. Though hardly ever seen in on a regular basis life, microprocessors quietly energy methods that hold societies operating. As highlighted within the Economic Survey 2025-26, they kind the spine of power networks, monetary markets and telecommunications. They allow manufacturing models, hospitals, transport methods and satellites. A dependable provide of semiconductors is subsequently important for financial stability and continuity throughout sectors.
Recent world disruptions have underscored this dependence. The COVID-19 pandemic uncovered critical weaknesses in semiconductor provide chains, with shortages affecting greater than 169 industries worldwide. Production delays and rising prices adopted, slowing financial exercise throughout international locations. These shocks revealed the dangers of counting on a slender set of suppliers.
Today, the semiconductor {industry} is dominated by a number of international locations, together with Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, China and the United States. Taiwan alone produces over 60 per cent of the world’s semiconductors and almost 90 per cent of probably the most superior chips, leaving world provide chains susceptible to exterior shocks and geopolitical tensions.
In response, main economies are recalibrating their methods. The United States, the European Union, Japan and South Korea have launched nationwide initiatives to strengthen home chip manufacturing and diversify provide chains. India is positioning itself inside this world shift as a trusted and dependable accomplice. The India Semiconductor Mission responds on to this second.
By constructing home capability throughout design, manufacturing and innovation, ISM represents a crucial step in direction of self-sufficiency and technological sovereignty, whereas strengthening India’s function in a extra resilient world semiconductor ecosystem.
At the core of this technique lies a robust give attention to semiconductor design and expertise improvement, which collectively kind the inspiration of technological self-reliance.
Since its launch in December 2021, the Design Linked Incentive Scheme has performed a pivotal function in transitioning from capability creation to technological depth in India. The scheme focuses on nurturing home innovation, supporting early-stage corporations, and creating the inspiration for a vibrant fabless ecosystem. It has additionally helped bridge the hole between tutorial analysis and {industry} software, strengthening India’s place within the world design panorama.
The programme presently helps 24 semiconductor design startups throughout the nation. Startups beneath the scheme have attracted almost Rs 430 crore in enterprise capital funding, reflecting rising investor confidence in India’s design ecosystem.
Advanced Electronic Design Automation (EDA), the nationwide chip design platform, has enabled entry to high-end design instruments, with roughly 2.25 crore instrument hours recorded.
Approximately 67,000 college students and greater than 1,000 startup engineers are actively utilizing these instruments for chip design and improvement.
In academia, 122 designs have been taped out, with 56 chips fabricated at 180 nm on the Semiconductor Laboratory in Mohali.
Startups have accomplished 16 tape-outs, leading to six chips fabricated at superior foundry nodes, together with applied sciences as superior as 12 nm.
Academic establishments have filed 75 patents, whereas startups have filed 10 patents, indicating a rising tradition of innovation and mental property creation.
Looking forward, the programme is about to scale additional, with a goal of enabling not less than 50 fabless semiconductor corporations within the subsequent part, reinforcing India’s ambition to emerge as a worldwide hub for semiconductor design and innovation.
Microprocessors kind the foundational layer of recent digital infrastructure, powering gadgets and methods throughout telecommunications, mobility, healthcare, {industry}, defence, and area. Recognising their strategic significance, India has made centered investments to construct sovereign capabilities in superior processor design as a core pillar of semiconductor self-reliance.
A key milestone on this journey is the launch of DHRUV64, a totally indigenous 64-bit microprocessor developed by C-DAC beneath the Microprocessor Development Programme (MDP). Built on fashionable architectural rules, DHRUV64 delivers improved effectivity, multitasking functionality, and reliability, enabling deployment throughout sectors together with 5G infrastructure, automotive electronics, industrial automation, shopper gadgets, and the Internet of Things (IoT).
Its improvement supplies India with a safe, homegrown processor platform, lowering long-term dependence on imported chips–particularly vital provided that India consumes almost 20 per cent of world microprocessor output.
DHRUV64 builds on a rising portfolio of indigenous processors, together with SHAKTI, AJIT, VIKRAM, and THEJAS, collectively forming the inspiration of an Indian processor ecosystem. Developed beneath the Digital India RISC-V (DIR-V) Programme, these processors leverage the open-source RISC-V structure, eliminating licence prices and enabling collaborative innovation throughout academia, startups, and {industry}.
The rollout of DHRUV64, alongside the continued improvement of DHANUSH and DHANUSH+ System-on-Chip variants, strengthens India’s R&D ecosystem, accelerates product prototyping, and expands alternatives for home design expertise.
Together, these initiatives place microprocessors not merely as parts, however as strategic enablers of India’s digital sovereignty–supporting innovation, securing crucial infrastructure, and anchoring the nation’s long-term ambitions within the world semiconductor worth chain.
A powerful semiconductor ecosystem relies upon as a lot on folks as on infrastructure. India has subsequently adopted a complete method to construct a big, expert and {industry} prepared expertise base throughout design, manufacturing and superior packaging. The emphasis is on early publicity to chip applied sciences, sensible coaching, and steady upskilling aligned with evolving {industry} necessities.
Chips to Start up Programme: The Chips to Start up programme allows entry to the newest digital design automation instruments throughout 397 universities and startups. Using these instruments, chip designers from greater than 46 universities have designed and fabricated 56 chips on the Semiconductor Laboratory in Mohali.
Academic Programmes beneath All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE): Specialised tutorial programmes have been launched to combine semiconductor schooling into mainstream engineering. These embrace a B Tech in Electronics Engineering with give attention to VLSI design, a diploma in built-in circuit manufacturing, and a minor diploma in Electronics Engineering masking VLSI design and expertise. Together, these programmes intention to provide graduates geared up with {industry} related abilities.
SMART Lab at NIELIT Calicut: The Skilled Manpower Advanced Research and Training Lab at NIELIT Calicut helps massive scale coaching in semiconductor applied sciences. The initiative targets one lakh engineers throughout the nation, with greater than 62,000 engineers already skilled, considerably strengthening the nationwide expertise pool.
Industry Partnership with Lam Research: A big-scale coaching programme in nanofabrication and course of engineering is being applied in partnership with Lam Research. The focus is on constructing specialised abilities for (ATMP) and superior packaging services. The programme goals to generate 60,000 skilled professionals over the following ten years.
FutureSkills PRIME Programme: FutureSkills PRIME is a joint initiative of MeitY and NASSCOM designed to place India as a worldwide digital expertise hub. It focuses on skilling, reskilling and upskilling in rising applied sciences, together with semiconductors. Courses are developed with {industry} inputs and delivered by way of a web-based portal that permits learners to entry coaching anytime and earn recognised ability certificates aligned with their aspirations.
Together, these initiatives are creating a strong, future-ready semiconductor workforce, positioning India to maintain long-term progress throughout the complete chip worth chain.
India Semiconductor Mission 2.0 marks a decisive shift from ecosystem creation to ecosystem consolidation and world integration. By deepening assist for manufacturing, design, and superior abilities, ISM 2.0 positions semiconductors as a strategic nationwide capability–central to financial resilience, digital infrastructure, and technological sovereignty. The enhanced budgetary assist in 2026-27 supplies the momentum wanted to speed up execution, entice non-public funding, and scale home capability throughout the complete semiconductor worth chain. (ANI)
