India’s ambitious leap into the world of semiconductor manufacturing is finally gathering real momentum, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government unveiling a series of sweeping initiatives and investments aimed at transforming the nation into a global chip powerhouse by the end of 2025. For decades, India watched from the sidelines as countries like Taiwan, the United States, South Korea, and China raced ahead in the vital semiconductor sector, but now the wheels are turning—and fast.
On August 15, 2025, during his Independence Day address from the ramparts of the Red Fort, Prime Minister Modi announced, “By the end of this very year, ‘Made in India’ chip, manufactured in Bharat by the people of Bharat, will be available in the market.” According to multiple reports, including BloombergQuint and Hindustan Times, this milestone marks a watershed moment in India’s technological journey, signaling the country’s entry into a club long dominated by a handful of global players.
For context, the road to this point has been anything but smooth. Modi lamented that India lost 50 to 60 years in semiconductor development due to bureaucratic inertia and missed opportunities. “We lost 50-60 years. Many countries mastered semiconductors and established their strength,” he said, citing how an initial proposal for a semiconductor factory was “stalled, delayed and shelved” six decades ago. The files, as he described, were left to “atak, latak and bhatak”—stuck, dangling, and meandering in bureaucratic limbo. Meanwhile, countries like Taiwan, led by giants such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), surged ahead to dominate 90% of advanced chip production.
But the past, Modi asserted, is now firmly behind. India is in “mission mode,” with six semiconductor units already in the pipeline and four new ones greenlit as of August 12, 2025. These newly approved projects, as reported by Mint and BloombergQuint, are spread across Odisha (two units), Punjab (one unit), and Andhra Pradesh (one unit), and are backed by a total investment of Rs 4,600 crore under the India Semiconductor Mission. The projects are expected to create over 2,000 direct skilled jobs and many more indirect opportunities, giving a much-needed boost to the country’s electronics and chip-making industry.
Zooming out, the government’s commitment is even more impressive. Including these latest additions, India now boasts 10 approved semiconductor projects worth a staggering Rs 1.6 lakh crore across six states. According to Ashwini Vaishnaw, Minister for Electronics and Information Technology, “Six semiconductor units—one fab and five assembly, testing, marking, and packaging (ATMP) units—are at different stages of planning, construction, and execution. Four more (one silicon carbide fab and three ATMP, including the most advanced packaging unit) were approved last week. The entire ecosystem—design, fabrication, packaging, equipment, chemicals, gases—is taking shape in Bharat.”
Among the most significant is the ₹91,000-crore silicon fab being built by Tata Electronics in Dholera, Gujarat. Approved in February 2024, this commercial-scale facility will have a capacity of 50,000 wafer-starts per month, putting it well above the industry norm of 20,000-40,000 wafer-starts. The plant is expected to begin production in 2026, but the first “made-in-India” chips are anticipated to be packaged chips, not those produced in a fab, and will roll out by the end of 2025. The chips from these units are set to power sectors ranging from consumer electronics and automotive to defense, telecommunications, mobile phones, and renewable energy.
Major global equipment manufacturers are also taking note. Applied Materials and Lam Research are establishing their design, production, and validation facilities in India, further bolstering the country’s growing semiconductor ecosystem. Industry leaders are optimistic. Ashok Chandak, President of the India Electronics and Semiconductor Association (IESA) and SEMI India, told Hindustan Times, “India is reclaiming 50–60 years of lost semiconductor opportunity at speed—with $21B in committed projects, 10 units under construction, and state policies enabling investment and ease of doing business. Backed by a thriving design ecosystem and government–industry collaboration, India is poised to become a trusted global hub for semiconductor design-to-manufacturing.”
Of course, the journey hasn’t been without political jabs. Minister Vaishnaw pointedly criticized previous governments for policy paralysis, noting that even when Intel explored setting up a semiconductor unit in India in 2005-06, the proposal was not allowed to proceed. Meanwhile, the Semiconductor Complex Laboratory (SCL) in Chandigarh, established during the Congress regime in 1983, continues to operate only at lab scale, a fact that underscores the missed opportunities of the past.
But the current administration is determined to avoid repeating history. Modi’s Independence Day speech was filled with references to self-reliance, or “atma-nirbharta,” as the bedrock of national strength. “The greater a nation’s reliance on others, the more its freedom comes into question. Misfortune arises when dependency becomes a habit,” he declared, tying the semiconductor push to broader initiatives in energy, critical minerals, digital infrastructure, medicines, and fertilizers. He announced the National Deepwater Exploration Mission for oil and gas, a plan to increase India’s nuclear energy capacity tenfold by 2047, and the launch of the National Critical Mineral Mission to secure resources essential for energy, industry, and defense.
In the realm of semiconductors, the momentum is palpable. The two units in Odisha include the country’s first commercial silicon carbide chip plant and an advanced glass-based chip packaging facility. Andhra Pradesh will house a chip packaging plant for mobiles, cars, and electronics, while Punjab’s Continental Device is expanding to manufacture high-power semiconductor devices for electric vehicles, renewable energy, and telecom. These projects, as emphasized in the official PIB release, are not just about hardware—they are also about jobs, supply chain security, and India’s ability to shape its technological destiny.
As the world watches, India is positioning itself as a global hub for semiconductor manufacturing, determined to catch up on lost time and play a leading role in the technology-driven century. The first “Made in India” chips, arriving by the end of 2025, will not just be a product—they will be a symbol of a nation’s resolve to shape its own future, one wafer at a time.
