Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw said that India is on track to begin commercial production of semiconductors in 2026.

“When we launched the semiconductor mission on January 1, 2022, we set a target to begin commercial production within five years. I’m pleased to say that the first commercial production will start in 2026 itself. In fact, four plants are expected to begin commercial operations that year,” he said, speaking to media at Veldoven, Netherlands.

He said that pilot production has already begun at three plants in 2025, and equipment manufacturers are coming to India, the materials manufacturing ecosystem is taking shape, and the talent pipeline is developing well.

“Most of the goals outlined in the first phase of the semiconductor mission are firmly on track, and some are ahead of schedule. For instance, we had set a target to develop 85,000 skilled professionals over 10 years. Within just four years, we have already trained 65,000,” Vaishnaw added. He noted that the progress is being noticed globally and is getting strong support from across the semiconductor industry.

Speaking about his visit to Veldoven, the minister reasoned that his meeting with ASML, a leading lithography tools provider, highlighted the importance of lithography in the semiconductor industry. "India has begun building a semiconductor industry. Within the semiconductor value chain, lithography—essentially the process of printing circuits onto a wafer—is the most complex and precision-intensive operation. ASML, based in the Netherlands, is the world’s leading provider of lithography tools and enables the manufacture of nearly every chip produced globally. Our fab, including the one in Dholera, will use ASML’s equipment.”

He said that several global equipment manufacturers are exploring a base in India, driven by the country’s design capabilities, talent pool, and the consistency of government policy.

Progress in AI journey

Speaking about India’s progress in AI, the minister said that the strength in AI is developing consistently across all five layers of the AI stack. “At the application layer, India is well positioned to emerge as a global leader. At the model layer, sovereign AI models are being developed that are already capable of addressing nearly 95% of current use cases. The chip layer is also progressing steadily under the semiconductor mission.”

He noted 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 rise 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. 

Vaishnaw also said that global industry leaders in areas of semiconductors and Artificial Intelligence (AI) supported India’s journey in the sector. "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 minister said.

"The AI leaders were very excited at the R&D happening in our country, and the models which are getting developed and the entire diversity of our country are major factors by which India's AI capabilities will grow to a different level," he continued.