By Ayushi Agarwal
Veldhoven [Netherlands], January 23 : Union Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Friday expressed satisfaction over the progress of India's Semiconductor Mission, stating that the government has met its target of initiating commercial semiconductor chip production within the planned timeline.
Speaking to ANI, Vaishnaw said that when the Semiconductor Mission was launched in January 2022, the government had set a goal of starting commercial production within five years. He noted that the first commercial production will begin in 2026, with four plants expected to commence operations this year. He added that pilot production has already started in three plants in 2025.
"When we started the Semiconductor Mission on 1st January 2022, we had taken a target that within five years, we should start the commercial production. Very glad to say that the first commercial production will start in 2026 itself. Four of the plants will start their commercial production in 2026. The pilot production already started in 3 plants in 2025 itself," Ashwini Vaishnaw told ANI.
Vaishnaw highlighted that India's semiconductor ecosystem is rapidly taking shape, with global equipment manufacturers setting up operations in the country and a strong material manufacturing ecosystem emerging. He said the talent pipeline is developing steadily, adding that several targets under the first phase of the Semiconductor Mission are not only on track but ahead of schedule. He pointed out that, against a target of developing 85,000 skilled professionals over 10 years, India has already trained 65,000 in just four years.
"The pilot production already started in three plants in 2025 itself. Now, the equipment manufacturers are coming to India. The material manufacturing ecosystem is also getting set up. The talent pipeline is developing very well. So, the goals that we had set are a part of the first version of the Semicon Mission and are very much on track and some of them are advanced compared to the targets. We had kept the target of 85,000 talent development over 10 years and within four years, we have been able to develop 65,000. So, that kind of progress is there. World is taking a note and there is tremendous support from across the industry," Vaishnaw said.
Emphasising growing global confidence, the minister said the world is taking note of India's progress and there is strong support from across the semiconductor industry.

"India's strength in AI is very consistent across the five layers of the AI stack. We will become the leaders in application layer. Sovereign models are getting developed which are very good and which have the capability of solving 95% of the problems that we have. The chip layer is developing very well. Infra layer - close to 70 billion dollars and growing every day," Vaishnaw said.
Addressing the issue of investments, Vaishnaw said total investments have now reached close to $90 billion, with committed investments likely to rise to USD 150 billion as the country approaches the AI Impact Summit. He added that the government is working consistently across all five layers, including the energy layer, to build a robust and self-reliant AI and semiconductor ecosystem.
"Just got the update yesterday that the investment is now close to 90 billion dollars. The committed investment which might grow up to 150 billion dollars as we approach the AI Impact Summit and the final energy layer. All the five layers we are working very consistently," he said.
India's semiconductor journey reached a milestone in September 2025 as the first set of Made-in-India chips from a pilot line was presented to PM Modi by Union Minister of Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw.
The India Semiconductor Mission was approved by the Union Cabinet in December 2021. With an outlay of Rs 76,000 crore, the programme aims to provide financial support for investments in semiconductor fabrication, display manufacturing and chip design to strengthen India's integration into global electronics value chains.
Envisioned to be led by global experts in the Semiconductor and Display industry, ISM aims to build a strong semiconductor and display ecosystem, positioning India as a global hub for electronics manufacturing and design, while serving as the nodal agency for the efficient and seamless implementation of semiconductor and display schemes.