India’s Semiconductor Ecosystem Attracting Strong Global Participation and Investment Interest: Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw

Key Highlights:

• SEMICON India 2026 Day 2 witnessed 25 key announcements and collaborations across the semiconductor value chain.
• Union Minister Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw highlighted strong global participation and investment interest in India's semiconductor ecosystem.
• The event saw nearly 12,000 visitors on Day 1 and featured over 600 exhibitors, including 300 international participants.
• India Deep Tech Alliance (IDTA) reported investments of $263 million across 56 Indian deep-tech companies.
• India's first indigenous System-on-Module (SOM), ISC-VEGA-SOM, was launched, integrating C-DAC's VEGA Thejas32 processor.

Detailed Insights:

• Collaborations covered semiconductor manufacturing, materials, logistics, chip design, advanced packaging, power electronics, and workforce development.
• MoUs were signed to strengthen the semiconductor supply chain, including India Semiconductor Mission with Nippon Express for logistics expertise.
• Tata Electronics partnered with multiple firms (INOX Air Products, Sumitomo Chemical, Kelington Engineering, Enomoto Co.) to localize materials, accelerate fab readiness, and enhance advanced packaging.
• MeitY, Ministry of Power, and POWERGRID collaborated to indigenize Silicon Carbide Power Modules for HVDC transmission systems.
• SEMI and IDTA partnered to develop the India Semiconductor Academy (ISA), a national industry-led skilling platform.
• NIELIT signed multiple MoUs with Siemens EDA, Tata Electronics, Singapore Polytechnic International, SCL, IESA, and SEMI University for workforce development and design education.
• The indigenous 0.8-micron Open-Source Process Design Kit (PDK) was officially launched on the NIELIT eChipHub platform to democratize chip design access.
• The Minister emphasized sustainability, highlighting water recycling in semiconductor fabs and closed-loop cooling systems in data centers.

Scientific/Technical Concepts Involved:

• Semiconductor Ecosystem: The entire value chain involved in the design, manufacturing, and application of semiconductor devices.
• System-on-Module (SOM): A single board computer that integrates core components like processor, memory, and I/O into a single module.
• Advanced Packaging (ATMP): Refers to Assembly, Test, Mark, and Pack, which are crucial post-fabrication steps for semiconductor chips.
• Process Design Kit (PDK): A set of files provided by a semiconductor foundry that describes a process technology for chip designers.