Interview/ Ashwini Vaishnaw, Union Minister for Railways, Electronics and Information Technology, and Information and Broadcasting
When Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw handed Prime Minister Narendra Modi a memento of student-designed indigenous chips at Semicon India 2025 in Delhi last year, he spent the next few minutes animatedly discussing the diverse talent pool India was tapping into to script its semiconductor future.
The student-designed chips taped out of SCL, Mohali, were shown alongside chips manufactured at semiconductor plants of Micron, Kaynes, CG Semi and Tata Semiconductors—spotlighting a new generation of innovators emerging from campuses and manufacturing hubs across the country. Institutions including IIT Roorkee, IIT Jammu, IIT Dhanbad (Indian School of Mines), National Institute of Technology Durgapur and National Institute of Technology Calicut were among those represented, highlighting how semiconductor innovation is increasingly emerging from smaller cities and campuses beyond India’s IT cities.
Nine months later, as Vaishnaw sat down for an exclusive interview with THE WEEK, he shared his excitement about the opportunities opening up for young Indians in the sector. “For decades, India was told it had ‘missed the bus’ on semiconductors. That refrain is no longer true,” he said, pointing to the rollout at Micron and Kaynes as evidence that India has become more than just a design destination.
The ecosystem, he explained, spans chip design, fabrication, advanced packaging, equipment, minerals and talent development. “India has now formally joined the global supply chain as a trusted partner. We are moving from being a consumer nation to becoming a product nation,” he said.
An alumnus of Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur and Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, Vaishnaw appears determined to engineer India’s semiconductor success. “You cannot build sovereign AI, secure 5G or trusted IoT on someone else’s chips,” he said. Excerpts:
Q/ With commercial production beginning at Micron and Kaynes, do you believe the initial scope for ‘Made in India’ semiconductors will primarily serve domestic demand? At what stage do you see India emerging as a global manufacturing hub?
Under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, we are building a foundational industry that will define our future. Our approach is strategic. We started the Semicon India programme for the development of a complete semiconductor ecosystem. It covers design, fabrication, assembly, testing, packaging and module manufacturing.
India Semiconductor Mission 2.0 will go a step deeper—into the equipment, gases and chemicals that go into making chips. We are building the entire ecosystem, not just one part of it.
Domestic demand gives us a stable anchor. India has one-fifth of the world’s chip design talent pool. We offer three things together that no other geography offers: scale, talent and trust.
Q/ How has been the progress so far? What were the challenges?
When we launched ISM in 2022, there was a great deal of scepticism. We tackled three structural challenges head-on: scale of investment, talent and technology depth.
On capital, the government took a clear position, it would back its words with concrete support. On talent, we have democratised access to technology. Industry-grade, state-of-the art EDA (electronic design automation) tools are today available free to students in over 315 universities and colleges. Students are not only designing chips; they are taping them out and validating them in our labs. Tell me, which other country can offer this scale of talent development?
Today, 12 plants have been approved. From 28nm chips and silicon carbide fabs to advanced 3D glass packaging and the newly approved micro-LED display fab.
Micron and Kaynes have already begun commercial production. We expect more units to roll out chips in the coming quarters. The progress has been characterised by mission-mode execution.
Q/ How much of a concern are rare earth and critical minerals supplies, and what steps are being taken to help states create a domestic supply chain?
Critical minerals are foundational to every modern industry like telecom, electronics, transport, energy and defence. If the inputs are not secure, the entire value chain is exposed. This is no longer just a commercial issue; it is one of strategic security.
Our approach has three pillars. First, securing supply at home. The National Critical Mineral Mission will secure essential minerals, and we are establishing rare earth corridors across Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Odisha and Tamil Nadu.
We are working closely with state governments to unlock domestic resources and build local processing and value-addition ecosystems.
As part of the Electronics Component Manufacturing Scheme, we are supporting a Rare Earth Permanent Magnet production project. India’s first project to manufacture such magnets from rare earth oxide marks an important step towards building indigenous capability in advanced materials.
Second, recycling. It is being built into the system from day one to reduce long-term import dependence.
Third, strategic partnerships. India has joined Pax Silica, which secures access to critical minerals needed for semiconductor manufacturing. We are simultaneously strengthening supply chains both within our borders and globally, ensuring there is no single point of failure.
Q/ How critical is semiconductor self-reliance to India’s national security and economic sovereignty?
Semiconductors are the new oil of the digital age. Every device, from a smartphone to a satellite, is built using semiconductors. If the chips are not trustworthy, our national security is at risk. There is no compromise on this.
By building an Aatmanirbhar semiconductor ecosystem, our talent will have opportunities in India. Our defence and space systems run on chips we trust, so that we are not held hostage to anyone else’s supply chain.
In the world of technology, those who design and manufacture chips shape the future. India has now formally joined the global supply chain as a trusted partner. We are moving from being a consumer nation to becoming a product nation.
Q/ How attractive is India today for global semiconductor giants, and what differentiates it from competing hubs like Vietnam or Taiwan?
The world today sees India as a long-term technology partner, not just a market. What sets us apart is a combination of three strengths.
First, policy stability and a clear roadmap couple of decades down the line. Companies investing in semiconductor projects are looking 15-20 years ahead, and they need that certainty.
Second, exceptional talent. Nearly every major global semiconductor company like Nvidia, AMD, Intel and ARM run their critical design and R&D out of India. We have over 20 per cent of the world’s chip design workforce. World’s most complex chips, including 2nm chips, are designed in India.
Third is a fast-growing domestic market, with rising demand across electronics, automobiles, telecom and medical devices.
India also offers a long runway for growth. Unlike other economies, India offers manufacturing capacity and also decades of demand, design capability, infrastructure expansion and ecosystem depth.
Q/ If India succeeds in building a robust semiconductor ecosystem, what transformative impact will it have on industries, startups and users?
A strong semiconductor ecosystem creates a multiplier effect across the entire economy. For industry, it brings resilience and reduces dependence on volatile global supply chains. It is critical for strategic sectors like defence, space, railways and power.
For startups, it opens up a vast new playing field: design, embedded systems, tools, materials and hardware. Indian startups are designing chips to be used in critical sectors such as video surveillance, drone detection, energy metering, microprocessors, satellite communications, broadband and IoT SoCs (system-on-a-chip—an integrated circuit that packs all computer components into one chip—for internet of things). Majority of companies have raised a good amount of venture capital funding to scale up and productise their solutions.
For citizens, it means more affordable technology, better services and accessible digital services.
Q/ Land, water, power and regulatory measures are key to India’s semiconductor mission. How can you ensure that the mission is successful and does not lag behind in states?
We are following a coordinated Centre-state approach to meet the high-standard infrastructure requirements of semiconductor manufacturing. Fabs need ultra-pure water, uninterrupted power and clean-room environments at a level few industries in India have demanded before.
The Union government is providing the necessary ecosystem with state governments acting as outstanding partners.
In Gujarat, land for the Micron plant was allocated within weeks. The Kaynes plant has gone from foundation to commercial production in just 14 months. That is the kind of speed that gives investors confidence.
Q/ What concrete milestones should India expect in the next 3-5 years under the semiconductor mission?
Commercial production has already begun at two plants, Micron and Kaynes in Sanand. Commercial production from another will start in July, and the fourth [facility] by the end of 2026. In coming years, India will be designing and manufacturing chips for telecom, automotive, consumer electronics and industrial sectors. The fab will start production in 2028.
Q/ How does the semiconductor push integrate with the broader Digital India mission and emerging technologies like AI, 5G and IoT?
Semiconductors are the foundation of Digital India. To build sovereign AI, secure 5G or trusted IoT, we need to develop our own semiconductor chips.
While ISM focuses on the core chips, the Electronics Component Manufacturing Scheme (ECMS) supports passive components such as circuit boards, sensors and capacitors. Together, the two initiatives create ready-to-deploy electronic systems.
Global companies are already manufacturing servers and telecom equipment here in India. With chips manufactured in India, we will manufacture the complete stack of these products.
Q/ What steps are being taken to build a skilled semiconductor workforce in India? How do you assess India’s existing skill set compared to global talent?
India is a true ‘talent nation’. We already have 20 per cent of the global chip design workforce, and we are positioned to fill a projected global shortage of over one million semiconductor professionals in the coming decade.
Around 70,000 students across 315 institutions are using world-class EDA tools, provided free of cost by the government. They are not just learning, but also designing chips, taping them out and validating them.
Private sector is also actively involved with us in developing the design pool. Lam Research is training 60,000 engineers on its Semiverse platform, and AMD has committed $1.1 billion for R&D in India.
Purdue University is the flagship academic partner for ISM. Collaborations with the US, Japan, the EU and Singapore ensure India is building deep domestic capability while integrating into the global semiconductor supply chain.
Q/ Your ministry is also central to one of the most transformative shifts of our time—AI. Is there a plan for reskilling a largely semi-skilled workforce for an AI-driven future?
We are preparing our workforce for the age of AI. The focus is on reskilling existing workers, creating new AI-enabled jobs and building AI-resilient jobs at scale.
Under the IndiaAI Mission, we are building a long-term talent base by supporting 13,500 scholars across PhD, postgraduate and undergraduate programmes; 570 AI and data labs are being set up across the country. The emphasis is on tier-2 and tier-3 cities, because technology must be democratised, not concentrated.
AI is also being introduced in schools, and a national programme is being taken up to train 10 million people in AI skills. The objective is clear, India’s workforce should use AI, and also build, deploy, govern and maintain the ecosystem.
Q/ With AI and rapid digitisation, cyber threats such as hacking, phishing and online fraud are rising sharply. In a country where millions are coming online via affordable smartphones, what steps are needed to ensure digital safety?
Digital safety is non-negotiable. As the prime minister has often said, digital transformation is meaningless if our citizens do not feel safe.
We believe that platforms must ensure a safe and trusted digital environment. We have defined platforms’ accountability through the new IT Rules. CERT-In (Computer Emergency Response Team India) neutralises real-time cyber threats; the Digital Personal Data Protection Act shields personal data; and sectoral CERTs have been created for finance, energy and telecom, with cyber audits made mandatory for critical infrastructure.
Q/ Social media platforms now play an outsized role in daily life, often operating with their own frameworks. Do you believe the current intermediary rules and safeguards are effective? If not, what more can be done to strengthen accountability?
The times when a platform could simply say ‘We are not responsible for the content’ are gone. These platforms now actively shape the reach, visibility and monetisation of content. Algorithms deployed by these platforms decide which content gets promoted, who sees it and how widely it spreads.
Today’s social media platforms are no more digital notice boards or bookstores. They are more like hotels which host people.
We have updated our rules to keep pace with a billion-plus internet users and a fast-evolving content landscape. The 2026 IT Amendment Rules explicitly regulate synthetically generated content, including deepfakes and AI-manipulated visuals. The framework rests on three pillars.
First, speed. Harmful content must be removed within three hours. Non-consensual intimate imagery, within two hours. User grievances should be addressed within seven days.
Second, traceability. Platforms must embed permanent metadata in AI-generated content. Labels cannot be stripped. The origin of synthetic content must be traceable.
Third, proportionality. The rules explicitly prohibit AI-generated child abuse material, non-consensual imagery, false documents and misleading depictions of real individuals.
The framework provides clear guidance for safe and ethical AI without resorting to heavy-handed regulation that could stifle innovation or private investment.
Q/ While the Digital Personal Data Protection Act has been passed, there is uncertainty among businesses and users about its implementation. While companies anticipate compliance challenges, concerns also exist around awareness and enforcement. How do you see its rollout evolving?
The DPDP Act is being rolled out in a phased manner over 18 months. We are establishing the Data Protection Board and operationalising Consent Managers step-by-step.
Large platforms carry major duties; startups and MSMEs have a light touch reputation. This is by design.
Throughout, we are working closely with industry to ensure a smooth transition. Businesses must understand their obligations well before enforcement begins.
Q/ Concerns have been raised about potential overreach. What safeguards are being considered to ensure its independence and credibility?
The Data Protection Board is a modern, digital-first institution, created by Parliament. It works strictly within the four corners of the law to protect the common user. Its core purpose is to hold companies accountable for how they handle personal data.
Independence flows from the legal structure. The terms and conditions of members cannot be altered arbitrarily. Every decision is based on facts, recorded transparently, and is appealable first before TDSAT (the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal, headed by a judicial member), and ultimately before the Supreme Court of India.
Q/ Social media addiction is increasingly becoming a global concern, with some regions considering restrictions for minors. Do you see a role for central intervention in India, and what would be a balanced approach to address this issue?
Our approach is balanced; protect users, especially the young, while keeping the internet open and inclusive. The DPDP Act already requires verifiable parental consent for processing children’s data.
We are working on practical, technology-led age-verification mechanisms using digital tokens and verified data points. We strongly advocate for ‘safety-by-design’ and reasonable restrictions on addictive features. Platforms operating in India must follow Indian law and take genuine responsibility for the safety of our younger citizens.
The diversity of our society and our cultural context must be respected in the way platforms design their algorithms and community guidelines.