Semicon initiative gets fillip with 3rd chip unit

PM Narendra Modi said the country’s next strategic goal was to manufacture chips that power electronics worldwide, while positioning Sanand as a technology cluster on the lines of those in the US, Japan and Taiwan. He said the next phase of India’s industrial strategy would also focus on self-reliance in critical minerals and advanced technologies.

The Sanand facility has been set up by CG Semi, a subsidiary of CG Power and Industrial Solutions, in partnership with Japan’s Renesas Electronics and Thailand’s Stars Microelectronics. The Union Cabinet had approved the project in February 2024 under the India Semiconductor Mission.

The plant is expected to generate around 5,000 direct and indirect jobs over the next five years. It has an initial production target of 200 million chips annually, which the company plans to scale up to 5 billion chips a year. The chips will be supplied to customers in India as well as overseas.

With commercial production beginning at the plant, three semiconductor projects approved by the Centre have now become operational. The government expects two more facilities to commence production during the current year as it seeks to build a domestic semiconductor ecosystem and reduce dependence on imports.

Addressing the gathering, Modi said India was now moving beyond mobile phone manufacturing towards developing the semiconductor value chain. He said electronics production in the country has increased seven-fold since 2014, while electronics exports have grown eleven-fold during the same period, reflecting the expansion of domestic manufacturing capabilities.

“First products, then components and now semiconductors…India is building the entire electronics value chain. This is the roadmap to Viksit Bharat. This is the next phase of Make in India,” Modi noted. “The Semicon India programme is gathering rapid momentum… Step by step. Brick by brick. Chip by chip,” he said.

The Prime Minister said no country had emerged as an industrial powerhouse by relying on a single industry and cited Silicon Valley in the US and technology clusters in Japan and Taiwan as examples of how ecosystems drive industrial growth. He said the semiconductor industry would attract chip packaging companies, equipment suppliers, machine servicing firms, chemical manufacturers and startups, creating a broader high-technology manufacturing base around Sanand.

Modi said the emergence of such clusters would open opportunities for young engineers in areas such as artificial intelligence, robotics and next-generation technologies. Referring to the recent flight testing of the made-in-India C295 aircraft in Vadodara, he said India’s manufacturing capabilities were steadily moving up the technology ladder.

The Prime Minister also said he had envisioned a semiconductor hub in Gujarat more than two decades ago and had even identified land for it, but the plan did not materialise at the time. He credited policy stability, faster decision-making and ease of doing business under the present government for attracting investments into the semiconductor sector.

“It is your ideas and my support,” Modi told the youth, adding that the government’s objective was to create opportunities that would enable the next generation to grow up in a developed India by 2047.

Union Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said chips manufactured at the newly inaugurated facility will be used in automobiles and industrial applications, while a significant portion will also be exported to Japan, the United States and Europe.