Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch a charm offensive for global investors Thursday as he inaugurates a massive semiconductor conference in New Delhi, marking India’s audacious bid to win a seat at the chip-making table.
PM Modi will use the three-day Semicon event to display India’s fledgling chip and electronics industry.
PM Modi will use the three-day Semicon event to display India’s fledgling chip and electronics industry that barely existed a decade ago. He’s courting global semiconductor producers, potential partners and customers for India’s homegrown contenders, as well as equipment makers and parts suppliers, all seeking to ride the artificial intelligence investment wave. “That’s his message to global investors. Some of those are starting to bear fruit: conglomerates Tata Group and Murugappa Group have begun packaging and assembling chips, while US memory maker Micron Technology Inc. has also commenced production. Countries around the world are committing massive budgets to making chips at home as the race for AI supremacy heats up. AI is already becoming ubiquitous in everything from self-driving cars and healthcare to finance and fraud detection. But as computing resources remain scarce, chips and chipmakers are fast becoming kingmakers in deciding who’s winning. Though India’s push is in early stages, it’s accelerating efforts to build a domestic industry spanning the entire supply chain. It’s offering seed funding to startups working on semiconductor products, support for chip-making gear as well as for new fabs and assembly plants.
Tata is also building a chip fabrication plant in Gujarat that’s due to become operational in early 2028. The event comes just two months after India pledged a further 1.9 trillion rupees ($19.8 billion) in subsidies to boost local chip and electronics production. The first round of subsidies in 2020-21 helped Apple Inc. expand iPhone manufacturing in the South Asian region – it now makes 25% of its marquee device here. India sought to replicate that momentum in semiconductors with an initial $10 billion fund that helped drive early initiatives.
“Semicon in New Delhi is PM Modi’s way of signalling that India has a long-term commitment to growing the chip industry,” said Pranay Kotasthane, deputy director of Bangalore-based think tank Takshashila Institution.
