NEW DELHI — Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared on Thursday that India’s semiconductor journey has formally transitioned from policy deliberations to commercial production, asserting that domestically manufactured chips are now shipping to clients both at home and across the globe. Inaugurating the fifth edition of SEMICON India 2026 at the Yashobhoomi Convention Centre, the Prime Minister emphasized that the nation’s burgeoning chip ecosystem is expanding rapidly, creating unprecedented opportunities across innovation, investment, and high-tech manufacturing.
Reflecting on the evolution of the summit since its inception in 2022, Modi highlighted how each successive edition mirrored the maturation of the domestic chip roadmap. He noted that while early conferences focused strictly on policy formulations, foundation stones, and pilot testing, the current phase represents actual market deliveries, with commercial operations now commencing at two additional facilities to further scale output.
Connecting the technology push to his broader objective of a self-reliant and developed nation, Modi referenced the observance of Vishwakarma Jayanti on Thursday, linking the day’s traditional heritage of master craftsmanship with modern microelectronics. He remarked that combining centuries-old artisanal traditions with 21st-century technological vision provides the core inspiration driving India’s domestic industrial base.
Modi contextualized the semiconductor milestone within a broader wave of economic and technological achievements over the past fortnight. He pointed to the Global FinTech Fest held earlier this month in Mumbai, which examined inclusive finance through agentic artificial intelligence, asset tokenization, and quantum computing. He also cited the complete operationalization of around 3,000 kilometres of Dedicated Freight Corridors to streamline supply chain logistics, alongside India’s latest quarterly economic growth rate of 7.8 per cent achieved amidst global headwinds. In addition, he referenced a recent sovereign credit rating upgrade by a prominent Japanese agency and the consensus adoption of the New Delhi Declaration at the India-hosted BRICS Summit as clear signs of growing international confidence in the economy.
Organized under the theme “Silicon to Systems: Building the Ecosystem,” the three-day flagship conference brings together global technology leaders, researchers, investors, startups, and policymakers across the entire electronics value chain. The event features more than 600 participating firms from 52 nations, over 400 global corporate executives, and six dedicated country pavilions representing Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Singapore, and Sweden, alongside 12 state-level pavilions designed to attract semiconductor joint ventures and technical partnerships.
