India tried and failed to build chip fabs for decades — an earlier 2007 policy collapsed. The current push began with the India Semiconductor Mission in December 2021, a ₹76,000 crore programme offering up to 50% capital support. COVID-era supply shocks and US–China tech tensions gave it urgency, and by 2026 around a dozen projects worth some ₹1.6 lakh crore had been approved.
Semiconductors
Semiconductors
India imports almost all of its chips, so building a domestic semiconductor industry is a strategic priority. Under the India Semiconductor Mission (2021), more than ₹1.6 lakh crore of chip-making projects have been approved — anchored by the ₹91,000 crore Tata–PSMC fab at Dholera and several packaging plants. This timeline traces the milestones from policy to physical factories.
₹1.6 lakh cr
Chip projects approved
₹91,000 cr
Dholera fab (Tata–PSMC)
12
Approved facilities (2026)
Chip investment approved
2021
India Semiconductor Mission launched
A ₹76,000 crore programme under MeitY to build a domestic chip ecosystem, with up to 50% capital support.
2023
Micron's Sanand plant approved
2024
Dholera fab approved
2025
India's first commercial chips shipped
2026
Micron Sanand inaugurated
2021
1milestones
20212026
Latest
India Semiconductor Mission launched
A ₹76,000 crore programme under MeitY to build a domestic chip ecosystem, with up to 50% capital support.
Why it matters Chips sit inside phones, cars, power grids, defence systems and AI hardware, so domestic capacity reduces reliance on a handful of overseas suppliers.
- India Semiconductor Mission: ₹76,000 crore, up to 50% capital support
- Dholera fab (Tata–PSMC): ₹91,000 crore, 50,000 wafers/month
- Source: India Semiconductor Mission / MeitY
History
Notable projects
The centrepiece is the Tata–PSMC fab at Dholera, Gujarat — India's first commercial wafer fab, a ₹91,000 crore, 300mm line designed for 50,000 wafers a month at 28nm, with first silicon targeted for around end-2026. Packaging came first because it is quicker to scale: Micron and CG Semi at Sanand and Tata at Jagiroad (Assam) are already operational, and Kaynes Semicon shipped India's first commercially produced chips in 2025.
How it works
Chip-making has two halves: the ultra-expensive fabrication (etching circuits onto silicon wafers in a 'fab') and the back-end assembly, testing and packaging. India began with the achievable back-end and mature-node fabs rather than cutting-edge chips, under the India Semiconductor Mission, which offers up to half the project cost as a subsidy. Foreign partners bring the technology (Micron; Taiwan's PSMC with Tata) while India supplies land, incentives and its large pool of chip-design engineers.
Outlook
India's semiconductor push moved from paper to reality: Micron's Sanand plant — the first operational facility — was inaugurated in early 2026, and Tata's Dholera fab (₹91,000 crore, with Taiwan's PSMC) targets its first chips by late 2026. The ₹76,000-crore mission is now in a second phase, adding a research centre and design support. The prize is cutting reliance on imported chips for everything from phones to cars.
The road ahead
This is a determined first step rather than instant self-sufficiency — the Dholera fab is taking time to build, and the next tasks are training more chip engineers and steadily raising the share of India's chip demand met at home.
By the numbers
₹76,000 crore India Semiconductor Mission (2021). ~₹1.6 lakh crore approved across ~12 projects. ₹91,000 crore Dholera fab, 50,000 wafers/month. First commercial chips shipped 2025. Sources: India Semiconductor Mission, MeitY.
Source: India Semiconductor Mission / MeitY — major milestones, 2021–2026.