Modi govt’s strategic move: Ashwini Vaishnaw details how 4 new projects accelerate India's semiconductor mission

The Union cabinet approved four new semiconductor manufacturing projects under the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM), a move aimed at accelerating the country’s capabilities in what the government calls a “foundational and strategic industry.”

Announcing the approvals, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the Semicon India programme, launched in 2022, builds on the success of the country’s rapidly growing electronics manufacturing sector. “It is a foundational and strategic industry,” he said. “Six projects are already underway. These four new proposals will further strengthen the ecosystem.”

Vaishnaw detailed that the first of the new projects will be a semiconductor unit in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, where chips will be manufactured for use in space, telecom, and railways. This facility, to be established by SiCSem in collaboration with UK-based Clas-SiC Wafer Fab Ltd, will be India’s first commercial compound semiconductor fabrication plant. It will manufacture silicon carbide devices with an annual capacity of 60,000 wafers and packaging capability for 96 million units. The investment in this project is pegged at ₹2,026 crore.

The second project, also in Bhubaneswar, will be a 3D glass manufacturing plant set up by US-based 3D Glass Solutions Inc. With an investment of ₹1,956 crore, this unit will produce advanced packaging and embedded glass substrates for applications in defence, radars, aviation, and mobile phones. It will feature world-class technologies such as glass interposers with passives, silicon bridges, and 3D Heterogeneous Integration (3DHI) modules. Planned annual capacity includes 69,600 glass panel substrates, 50 million assembled units, and 13,200 3DHI modules.

The third approved project will be located in Mohali, Punjab, where Continental Device India Pvt Ltd (CDIL) will expand its discrete semiconductor manufacturing facility. In collaboration with South Korea, the plant will produce high-power devices such as MOSFETs, IGBTs, Schottky diodes, and transistors, in both silicon and silicon carbide. The expansion will add an annual capacity of 158.38 million units, serving automotive electronics — including electric vehicles and charging infrastructure — renewable energy systems, power conversion, and communication equipment.

The fourth project will be set up in Andhra Pradesh by Advanced System in Package (ASIP) Technologies, also in partnership with a South Korean firm, APACT Co Ltd. This facility will have an annual capacity of 96 million units, producing semiconductor components for mobile phones, set-top boxes, automotive applications, and other electronics.

According to the government, these four new projects — involving SiCSem, 3D Glass Solutions Inc, CDIL, and ASIP Technologies — collectively represent investments of around ₹4,600 crore. They are expected to generate direct employment for 2,034 skilled professionals and many more indirect jobs, catalysing the broader electronics manufacturing ecosystem.

With these approvals, the total number of sanctioned semiconductor projects under ISM has risen to 10, spanning six states and totalling around ₹1.60 lakh crore in investments. The six previously approved projects are already at various stages of execution.

Vaishnaw highlighted the broader success of India’s electronics sector, stating that manufacturing output has grown six-fold to ₹12 lakh crore in recent years. More than 300 mobile manufacturing units are now operational, with annual production valued at ₹5.5 lakh crore. “The momentum in the semiconductor ecosystem will make India a trusted global partner and advance our goal,” he said. “The projects have huge employment generation capacity as these are foundational in nature, prompting the creation of more industry downstream,” he added.

The minister also pointed to the growing demand for semiconductors in sectors such as telecom, automotive, data centres, consumer electronics, and industrial electronics. He said the newly approved projects would meet critical domestic requirements and contribute to self-reliance in advanced technologies.

The government noted that the SiCSem facility in Bhubaneswar will have applications beyond telecom and railways, extending into defence equipment, electric vehicles, fast chargers, consumer appliances, solar power inverters, and data centre infrastructure. The 3D Glass Solutions plant will serve emerging technologies such as high-performance computing, artificial intelligence, photonics, and co-packaged optics.

These developments, officials said, will complement India’s expanding chip design capabilities. The government has already provided design infrastructure support to 278 academic institutions and 72 startups, with over 60,000 students benefiting from talent development programmes.

By combining fabrication, advanced packaging, and discrete semiconductor production, the projects aim to position India as a competitive manufacturing hub in the global semiconductor value chain, while reducing dependence on imports for critical technology.