Modi launches Semicon India, says country’s chip to drive world change

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday inaugurated ‘Semicon India - 2025’, aimed at catalysing India’s Semiconductor ecosystem, in New Delhi. He said, “The day is not far when the smallest chip manufactured in India will drive the most significant global change.”

The PM outlined India’s ambitious roadmap to capture a significant share of the global semiconductor market in future. “Oil was black gold, but chips are digital diamonds...in the 21st century, power is concentrated in the small chip. Though tiny, the chip has the strength to drive the world’s progress at great speed. That is why the global semiconductor market, which is already at $600 billion, will cross $1 trillion in the coming years. With the way India is growing, the country is going to hold a significant share in this 1-trillion-dollar market,” he said.

Union Minister for Electronics & Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw presented Vikram 32-bit processor and test chips from four approved projects to the PM.

Developed by ISRO’s Semi-Conductor Laboratory, the Vikram processor marks India’s first fully indigenous 32-bit microprocessor, engineered to endure the extreme environmental conditions of launch vehicles. Modi highlighted India’s economic resilience amid global challenges, citing the latest GDP figures showing a robust 7.8 per cent growth in the first quarter of 2025. “When there are concerns in the global economy, India has performed better than every expectation,” he said. He said, “The less the paperwork, the sooner wafer work can start.” Since the launch of the India Semiconductor Mission in 2021, 10 semiconductor projects worth $18 billion have been approved.

Meanwhile 12 MoUs were announced and the focus areas were to develop indigenous capabilities in design and building products like camera modules, microphone buds, miniature packaging and talent development ecosystem.

Vaishnaw also announced deep tech alliance with $1 billion commitment to drive semiconductor revolution in clean energy, quantum and frontier sectors.