Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw launched a Qualcomm two nanometre semiconductor chip in Bengaluru, marking a milestone in advanced semiconductor design and highlighting India’s role in global engineering operations. The minister said he was pleased by the progress and that the world was looking to India because of its talent pool, which would drive future achievement. He added that co-creation and co-development, supported by the Prime Minister’s leadership, had opened a new chapter for the semiconductor mission.

He traced the origins to the 1960s when the Fairchild group and Intel had considered a unit in India but a past government had not prioritised the sector. The minister noted that the Prime Minister recognised the strategic need and initiated initial semiconductor machinery and a measured programme to bring units online, with at least one fabrication plant planned. The programme began with 28 nanometre technology as it covered about 75 per cent of requirements across automotive, telecom, power management and strategic applications.

He said 10 units were under construction and that four had begun pilot production, with products undergoing customer qualification and validation ahead of commercial manufacture. Since 2022, 315 universities had adopted major electronic design automation tools from Synopsis, Cadence and Siemens, enabling students to design, tape out and validate chips. This activity was creating a sizeable talent pipeline that would bolster the country’s competitive advantage.

He outlined India Semiconductor Mission 2.0, focusing first on design companies and startups, second on building the full ecosystem of equipment, chemical and gas suppliers and testing and validation capabilities in India, and third on deepening the talent base through university partnerships. The minister emphasised that as the fifth Industrial Revolution unfolded, government, industry and academia must collaborate to foster deep tech innovation originating in India and to provide greater value globally. He urged industry and academia to align curricula and to prioritise upskilling and reskilling so students and employees gained required capabilities.