SEMICON India 2026, held in New Delhi, concluded its three-day run with 56 MoUs, announcements and strategic initiatives, drawing more than 600 exhibitors, around 300 international companies, and participation from 52 countries — underscoring India's accelerating push to become a credible player in the global semiconductor value chain.

Modi Inaugurates Event, Announces Semicon 2.0

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the event and highlighted India's shift from policy discussions and project planning to actual commercial semiconductor production. He interacted with young chip designers and students, and virtually inaugurated commercial production lines at CDIL Semiconductor in Mohali and Suchi Semicon in Surat. This takes the number of operational commercial semiconductor units — among the 12 projects approved under Semicon 1.0 — to five.

Modi also outlined the transition to Semicon 2.0, a six-pillar programme structured around design, machines and materials, new fabs, advanced packaging, research, and talent development. The scheme carries an outlay of ₹1,27,500 crore and is intended to develop capabilities across the full semiconductor value chain.

Scale and Reach of SEMICON India 2026

The fifth edition of India's flagship semiconductor conference recorded 51,656 total registrations and a cumulative footfall of approximately 40,000, according to an official statement. The event featured six Country Pavilions — representing Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Singapore, and Sweden — alongside 12 State Pavilions, a Startup Pavilion, Workforce Development Zone, Innovation Showcase, and Student Hackathon.

What the 56 MoUs Cover

The 56 MoUs, announcements and strategic initiatives signed across the three days span semiconductor design, fabrication, advanced packaging, equipment and materials, power electronics, Artificial Intelligence (AI), High-Performance Computing (HPC), Research and Development (R&D), logistics, technology commercialisation, skilling, and workforce development. Major collaborations involved semiconductor manufacturers, equipment and materials companies, design firms, academic institutions, and skilling organisations.

Context: Why This Matters for India

This comes amid intensifying global competition to secure semiconductor supply chains, with the United States, the European Union, Japan, and South Korea all committing record subsidies to domestic chip production. India has moved relatively late but has been accelerating: Semicon 1.0 approved 12 projects, and now five are operational — a concrete, if incremental, milestone. The ₹1,27,500 crore Semicon 2.0 outlay signals a significant step-up in ambition. The industry–academia linkages, startup support, and skilling zones at the event reflect an acknowledgement that hardware capacity alone is insufficient without a parallel talent pipeline.

With guidelines and investment timelines expected to firm up in the months ahead, India's semiconductor trajectory will be closely watched by global chip companies weighing supply chain diversification.