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India is rapidly advancing its domestic semiconductor manufacturing ambitions, aiming to transition from heavy reliance on imports to becoming a globally competitive chip-producing nation.
According to a report by The Economic Times, the Indian government plans to unveil its first “Made in India” semiconductor chip by the end of this year, alongside the construction of six semiconductor fabrication plants poised to commence mass production—an effort to elevate India’s standing within the global technology supply chain.
In a public address, Ashwini Vaishnaw, India’s Minister for Electronics and Information Technology, noted that cities such as Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Pune, and Chennai have emerged as key hubs for advanced chip design, while the government continues to invest heavily in building up domestic manufacturing capabilities.
The six fabs are currently under accelerated development and are expected to be operational by the end of 2025, producing semiconductors based on homegrown Indian technologies.
This initiative is closely intertwined with India’s broader “AI Mission,” under which the government has released extensive open data sets and aims to train over one million professionals specializing in artificial intelligence applications—laying a robust foundation for digital and industrial transformation across the country.
Analysts point out that India’s current semiconductor ventures are largely focused on assembly, packaging, and testing—stages positioned at the downstream end of the manufacturing process and associated with lower technical barriers. However, due to their labor-intensive nature, these operations offer a pragmatic entry point into the global market for India’s still-nascent semiconductor sector.
Among the projects, the plant led by the Tata Group, while not yet capable of fabricating chips based on advanced process nodes, is expected to produce semiconductors suitable for applications in automobiles and entry-level smartphones—thereby helping to catalyze domestic demand and establish baseline production capacity.
At present, more than 90% of India’s chip consumption is met through imports, leaving the nation highly vulnerable—an issue made painfully clear during the global chip shortage triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, which severely impacted both the economy and national security. Pranay Kotasthane, a scholar at the Takshashila Institution in Bengaluru, warned that without a resilient domestic semiconductor industry, India risks being sidelined in future global technology races.
Nonetheless, The Economist has highlighted emerging concerns. As the government continues to pour subsidies and resources into semiconductor fabs, questions arise over whether companies may eventually be compelled to adopt domestic chips whose quality has not yet matured—fueling debate within the industry.
Meanwhile, many experts argue that the government should instead prioritize dismantling the structural barriers hindering local chip design firms. With over 125,000 Indian engineers currently employed in chip design roles globally—many of them working for major international firms—the true challenge lies in facilitating the return of this talent to nurture indigenous innovation. This, they contend, is the linchpin for India’s semiconductor aspirations to truly take flight.
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