Realising bullet train and building 7-nanometre semiconductor capacity are at the top of my agenda: Ashwini Vaishnaw
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India’s Minister for Railways, Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw said that currently there are two projects that are at the top of his agendas; the dream of having the bullet train and building seven-nanometre semiconductor manufacturing capacity in the country, which is the most advanced technology in the sector.
“Developing the 350 km/hr bullet train is on top of my agenda. So it is very important to have this entire technological base in our country,” Vaishnaw said during an interview with Morgan Stanley on Wednesday.
“Second, going to the seven-nanometers from 28 nanometers. That's again going to be a very big challenge for the country because between seven nanometers and 19 nanometers, we will have practically maybe 85% of the entire volume of semiconductor chips. So making sure that that much capability of the country is developed in the next few years,” minister added.
He also discussed India’s growth in electronics exports. The latest government data shows that mobile phone exports rose 165 times in 11 years, from ₹1,500 crore in FY2014-15 to ₹2.59 lakh crore in FY2025-26.
When asked what has driven this success, Vaishnaw replied this was possible due to the government's ‘methodological’ approach over the time.
“We started electronics manufacturing in a very, very methodical way. We started with getting the finished products assembly in our ecosystem. Then we went to the module level, then we went to the submodule level, and now we are at the component level. So step-by-step, building this entire ecosystem. Because of this strategy, in a period of [the] last decade, we have been able to establish ourselves as an important electronics manufacturing destination,” the minister explained.
On the railway sector, during the interview, Vaishnwa said that improving efficiency and managing costs in logistics are essential to overall India’s industry growth.
“Manufacturing competitiveness has logistics cost and logistics efficiency as a major element. And when we are improving the railway operations, this is directly impacting the cost of logistics and the efficiency of logistics. A decade ago, we used to carry just about 1,000 million tonnes of cargo. Today, we are carrying 1,670 million tonnes of cargo. This directly impacts the way industries operate. If the industries are located close to a railway terminal, then it becomes very easy for them to manufacture straight away, put it on the wagons, and ship it to the place they would like it to go,” he said.