Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate SEMICON India 2026 on September 17 at Yashobhoomi in Dwarka. The three-day conference will showcase India’s semiconductor manufacturing capabilities to global chipmakers, policymakers and investors. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology is positioning this event as a major milestone in India’s transformation into a chip-making nation.
What India has built so far
India’s electronics manufacturing has grown dramatically. Between 2014-15 and 2025-26, electronics production jumped from ₹1.9 lakh crore to ₹13.11 lakh crore. Electronics exports rose from ₹38,000 crore to ₹4.24 lakh crore. Mobile phone production increased 33 times, from ₹18,000 crore to ₹6.27 lakh crore. Phone exports rose 165 times, from about ₹1,500 crore to ₹2.59 lakh crore. In 2014, smartphones were not among India’s top 100 exported goods. By 2025-26, they became the country’s largest exported product. India now manufactures 99.2 percent of the phones it uses and is the world’s second largest mobile phone maker by volume. This sector supports 2.5 million jobs.
On the semiconductor front specifically, the government launched the Semicon India programme in 2021 with a ₹76,000 crore outlay. In July 2026, it approved Semicon 2.0 with ₹1,27,500 crore to cover chip design, fabrication, packaging, equipment, materials and training. Twelve semiconductor projects have been approved across six states, with investment commitments exceeding ₹1.64 lakh crore. Three facilities have already begun commercial production.
To develop skilled engineers, the government aims to create a pool of 85,000 semiconductor engineers this decade. The Chips to Startup programme has deployed design tools across 320 academic institutions and trained more than 68,000 students. The ChipIN Centre at C-DAC has provided advanced design tools to over 1 lakh engineers from 500 organisations, including 400 academic institutions and 100 start-ups. More than 300 chip designs have been developed for fabrication, with seven completed at advanced nodes down to 12 nanometres.
What this means for you
India’s semiconductor ambitions affect everyone who uses electronics. Chips are foundational to phones, cars, medical equipment and countless other devices. By building domestic chip-making capacity, India aims to reduce dependence on foreign suppliers and create more jobs in high-skill manufacturing. Students and engineers can now access design tools and training through government-supported centres. For consumers, greater local production could eventually mean lower costs and faster innovation in electronics made and designed in India.