India is moving from broad intent to a defined programme designed to build a domestic semiconductor ecosystem, with public targets that reach into the most advanced end of global chipmaking.
At Times Group’s Global Business Summit on 14 February 2026, India’s electronics and IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the country aimed to transition from 28-nanometre chips to 2-nanometre technology, stressing that the shift would be pursued in a “measured” way rather than through rushed decisions. The statement was notable because it placed India’s ambition alongside a small group of economies and firms that currently dominate leading-edge semiconductor manufacturing.
The push is being presented as a national capability project rather than a single factory build. The government’s approach has combined incentives for manufacturing with a growing emphasis on upstream design and the surrounding supply chain—equipment, materials, packaging and testing—required for a functional semiconductor industry.
A key element of the narrative is a second phase of the government’s programme, widely reported as “India Semiconductor Mission 2.0” (ISM 2.0). Reporting and policy summaries have described ISM 2.0 as a shift from the early-stage establishment of projects towards deeper capability, including domestic intellectual property and design capacity, alongside an effort to expand the local base of equipment and materials suppliers. Indian sources have cited a budgetary allocation for FY 2026–27 of ₹1,000 crore, roughly $120 million at prevailing exchange rates, linked to ISM 2.0.
Alongside policy announcements, India is also moving towards commercial output from facilities associated with the first phase of its semiconductor effort. In late January, Vaishnaw said pilot production was under way at four semiconductor plants and that one facility was preparing to move to full-scale commercial production in the third week of February 2026.
The most immediate milestone is Micron Technology’s assembly, testing, marking and packaging (ATMP) facility at Sanand in Gujarat, valued at about $2.75 billion. Indian reporting has quoted officials and the minister indicating that commercial production is expected to begin by the end of February 2026 after the pilot phase. While ATMP is not the same as leading-edge wafer fabrication, it is a core part of semiconductor supply chains, linking manufactured dies to usable components and to downstream electronics manufacturing.
Another flagship initiative is Tata Electronics’ planned semiconductor fabrication project at Dholera, Gujarat, pursued in partnership with Taiwan’s Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (PSMC). Tata has described the deal as a technology-transfer agreement intended to “build India’s first semiconductor fab”, positioning it as a foundational step towards an indigenous ecosystem. The associated public material and reporting have cited an investment of around $11 billion, planned capacity of up to 50,000 wafers per month, and an employment impact of more than 20,000 direct and indirect jobs.
These projects also illustrate how India is attempting to build capability across layers of the value chain rather than relying on an isolated “national champion” factory. Semiconductor competitiveness depends on a dense network: equipment, specialty chemicals, wafer and substrate supply, metrology, clean-room construction, packaging, testing services, and a trained workforce that can raise yields and sustain quality control. The government’s reported priorities under ISM 2.0—design, equipment and materials, and talent—map directly onto those requirements.
Vaishnaw has also sketched longer-term timelines in public remarks and media coverage. Those include goals to move towards three-nanometre capability by the early 2030s and two-nanometre capability later in the decade, with India studying the experience of established semiconductor leaders in East Asia. The feasibility of those targets will depend on execution, sustained funding, access to advanced manufacturing tools and materials, and the ability to develop process expertise—especially as leading-edge production remains concentrated among a limited number of firms worldwide.
What can already be said on the basis of announced projects and reported allocations is that India is treating semiconductors as a strategic industry. The programme combines near-term steps—commercial packaging and testing output—with longer-term objectives aimed at domestic design capability and the creation of a broader industrial ecosystem that can support higher-value production and innovation at scale.
