New Delhi [India], February 1 : Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Sunday highlighted the rapid growth of India's electronics and digital ecosystem, saying the sector has witnessed unprecedented expansion over the last decade and will play a key role in the country's future economic growth.
Speaking on the Union Budget announcements exclusively to ANI, Vaishnaw said, "The electronics manufacturing sector today employs about 25 lakh persons. This is a huge jump over the last 10 years. In 10 years, electronics manufacturing has grown sixfold, and electronics exports have grown eightfold. Given the need to accelerate growth in electronics manufacturing, the finance minister today announced Rs 40,000 crore for the electronics component manufacturing scheme and simultaneously announced Semicon 2.0. This is again a major achievement for our country and for our Prime Minister's vision that a futuristic industry like semiconductors, which will feed into AI, will be a significant boost to the economy. Data centres will be the backbone of the AI-led fifth industrial revolution."
Vaishnaw underlined the importance of digital infrastructure, stating, "India will become one of the largest data centre hubs following today's policy announcement. Data centres will have a 20-year tax holiday. This will be a significant change. Overall, in the creator economy, 20 lakh new employment opportunities will be created, as the IICT (Indian Institute of Creative Technologies) will now be connected to 15,000 high schools and 500 colleges through the creator labs."
He further added that all the manufacturing and IT sectors will get a major boost from the budget, stating, "IT-based economy, IT services, electronics manufacturing, orange economy, and the physical infrastructure of high-speed corridors, as well as freight corridors. All of these will receive a major boost from this budget. I would like to thank the Finance Minister and the Prime Minister for laying out this foundation for a developed country, for Viksit Bharat."
Earlier today, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the launch of India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) 2.0, with a Rs 40,000 crore outlay, aiming to boost the country's semiconductor ecosystem.
This initiative focuses on producing equipment and materials, designing full-stack Indian intellectual property, and strengthening supply chains
While presenting the Union Budget 2026, the Finance Minister stated that the new mission will focus on industry-led research and training centres to develop technology and a skilled workforce.
Sitharaman also highlighted the success of the Electronics Components Manufacturing Scheme, launched in April 2025 with an outlay of Rs 22,919 crore. She stated that the scheme has already received investment commitments double the targets.
"India's semiconductor mission, 1.0, expanded India's semiconductor sector capabilities. Building on this, we launch ISM 2.0 to produce equipment and materials, develop full-stack Indian IP, and strengthen supply chains. We will also focus on industry-led research and training centres to develop technology and a skilled workforce. The Electronics Components Manufacturing Scheme, launched in April 2025 with an outlay of Rs 22,919 crores, already has investment commitments at double the targets. We propose to increase the outlay to Rs 40,000 crore to capitalise on this momentum," Sitharaman said.