New Delhi. The story of India’s chip manufacturing is no longer limited to planning only, but large-scale investment has already landed on the ground. It was told in Parliament on Friday that under the Semicon India Programme, 10 chip units have been approved so far, involving a total investment of Rs 1.6 lakh crore. These include high-tech units like silicon fab, silicon carbide fab, advanced packaging and memory packaging which will give new strength to India’s electronics supply chain.
Union Minister of State for Electronics and IT Jitin Prasada said that all these units will meet the chip requirements of sectors like consumer appliances, automobile, industrial electronics, telecom, aerospace and power electronics. He also said that many of the approved proposals are based on the country’s own technology, in which the assembly, testing and packaging of semiconductor chips is going to be done entirely in India.
Big leap towards becoming India’s chip factory
The biggest achievement of the government’s Semicon India program is that India is now moving rapidly towards not only design but also fabrication and packaging. Technologies like silicon and silicon carbide are essential for high-performance chips that are used in EVs, aerospace and high-end electronics. After the construction of these 10 units, India’s share in the global chip value chain is going to increase directly.
Big boom of electronics due to PLI scheme
The impact of the Production Linked Incentive Scheme launched for mobiles and electronics was also clearly visible in the Parliament figures. The minister said that an investment of Rs 14065 crore has come in mobile and component manufacturing by October 2025. Manufacturing of laptops, tablets, servers and small form-factor devices has reached an investment of Rs 846 crore through a separate PLI scheme for IT hardware.
The effect of these policies is that India’s electronics manufacturing has increased 6 times in 11 years from Rs 1.9 lakh crore to Rs 11.32 lakh crore. At the same time, electronics export has also jumped from Rs 38000 crore to Rs 3.26 lakh crore. It has now become the third largest export sector of the country.
India also has a strong hold in chip design
India’s major strength has been chip design and to strengthen it, the government launched the DLI scheme. It was told in Parliament that till now support has been given to 23 companies which are designing 24 types of chips and System on Chip (SoC). These designs are based on chips used in satellite communication, drones, smart meters, AI devices, cameras, IoT and telecom equipment. It is clear from this that India is not just building factories, but is strengthening its hold in the entire value chain from chip design to packaging and manufacturing.
Why is this a big turn?
Till now the world’s chip supply revolved around China, Taiwan and South Korea. In such a situation, investment of Rs 1.6 lakh crore and approval of 10 chip units is a game changer for India. With this, India will not only move towards electronics manufacturing hub but will also achieve self-reliance in the high-tech sector. The main reason for global companies shifting to India is the strong PLI and DLI structure.
