PM inaugurates Semicon India 2025

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Semicon India 2025 in New Delhi on Tuesday, September 2. During the opening ceremony, Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw presented the first “Made in India” semiconductor chip—the Vikram 32-bit processor—to PM Modi. Addressing global industry leaders and participants, PM Modi emphasized that India has become a trusted partner for building the world’s semiconductor future and pointed out that, despite facing global challenges, the nation posted an impressive 7.8% GDP growth in the first quarter of fiscal year 2026—well above expectations. Modi stated that India is on track to become the world’s third-largest economy and that the significance of chips now outweighs that of oil, describing “chips as digital diamonds” and noting that the future global economy will be driven by semiconductors rather than oil wells.

He elaborated that the global semiconductor market is already valued at $600 billion and is projected to surpass $1 trillion soon, expressing confidence that India will play a major role in that expanded market. Since the launch of the Semiconductor Programme in 2021, ten projects worth $18 billion in investment have been approved, beginning with the first plant in 2023. Modi also noted the country’s commitment to securing and processing critical rare earth minerals domestically and underscored his ambition for India to become a leader not only in manufacturing chips but also in semiconductor intellectual property (IP) creation, thereby boosting the nation’s competitiveness on the world stage.

The prime minister called for healthy competition between states to foster the semiconductor ecosystem and assured industry partners of long-term policy support as India moves into the next phase of its semiconductor strategy. He concluded by expressing his vision that products “designed in India, made in India” would soon be globally recognized and trusted.

Minister Vaishnaw added that, within just three and a half years, India has inspired worldwide confidence, with four semiconductor units in rapid construction and the first domestic chip now ready via CG Power. Two additional plants are set to release their own chips soon. The Vikram processor, developed by ISRO’s Semiconductor Lab, is the first fully “Made-in-India” microprocessor qualified for use in launch vehicles and demanding environments.

CT Bureau