India to start semiconductor commercial production in 2026; AI investments may hit $150 billion, says Ashwini Vaishnaw

Union Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Friday said India is ready for commercial semiconductor chip production in 2026. Speaking with ANI, he remarked that when the Semiconductor Mission was launched in January 2022, the government had set a goal of starting commercial production within five years.

India to begin semiconductor commercial production in 2026

"The first commercial production will begin in 2026, with four plants expected to commence operations this year. The pilot production has already started in three plants in 2025," he said.

Minister Vaishnaw added that, against a target of developing 85,000 skilled professionals over 10 years, India has already trained 65,000 in just four years and that several targets under the first phase of the Semiconductor Mission are not only on track but ahead of schedule.

The minister also said that the world is taking note of India's progress and there is strong support from across the semiconductor industry.

Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw also visited the headquarters of ASML in Veldhoven, Netherlands.

He also shared that ASML coming to India would be a significant development, as several equipment manufacturers from across the world are now looking to establish a base in India due to the country's design capabilities, large talent pool, and the consistent policies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Speaking on the country’s progress in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI), the minister said, "India's strength in AI is very consistent across the five layers of the AI stack. We will become the leaders in application layer. Sovereign models are getting developed which are very good and which have the capability of solving 95% of the problems that we have. The chip layer is developing very well. Infra layer - close to 70 billion dollars and growing every day."

Minister Vaishnaw disclosed that at the infrastructure layer, investments have crossed $70 billion and continue to grow.

As of the latest update, committed investments are now close to $90 billion and could increase to $150 billion as the AI Impact Summit approaches.

“Work is also underway at the energy layer. Across all five layers, progress is being made in a coordinated and consistent manner,” he said. 

"The semiconductor round table, where all the big leaders of the semiconductor world were present, showed confidence in India's journey so far, and they would like to contribute to our journey in every way," the mMnister added.

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