THEBUSINESSBYTES BUREAU

NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 18, 2026

India’s rapidly expanding semiconductor ecosystem is attracting strong global participation and investment interest, Union Electronics and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Friday as the second day of SEMICON India 2026 witnessed 25 key announcements and collaborations spanning the entire semiconductor value chain.

The announcements, covering semiconductor manufacturing, materials, logistics, chip design, advanced packaging, power electronics and workforce development, underscored the growing efforts to build a resilient and globally competitive semiconductor ecosystem in the country.

Addressing the media, Vaishnaw said nearly 12,000 visitors, largely industry participants, attended the first day of the event, which features more than 600 exhibitors, including around 300 international exhibitors. Participation was even higher on the second day, he said, with strong business-to-business engagement, agreements being concluded during meetings and encouraging participation in technical sessions.

Country roundtables also received a positive response, with more than 30 companies each from Japan and Singapore participating in their respective pavilions, besides participation from South Korea and European countries including Belgium, the Netherlands and Sweden.

Vaishnaw said the participation reflected growing global interest in expanding semiconductor-related activities in India. He also pointed to investment interest emerging at the event, saying industry leaders had indicated their willingness to scale up investments depending on their execution capabilities.

The second day saw a series of strategic memoranda of understanding and partnership announcements aimed at strengthening supply-chain localisation, advanced packaging, semiconductor design, skilling and deep-tech investment.

Tata Electronics announced collaborations with INOX Air Products for high-purity gases critical to semiconductor manufacturing, Sumitomo Chemical for local production of high-purity wet chemicals and advanced materials, Kelington Engineering for gas distribution and high-purity piping systems, and Japan’s Enomoto for joint research and development and localisation of lead-frame manufacturing for advanced semiconductor packaging.

C-MET, Pune, and Hindalco Industries signed an MoU to scale up critical raw materials for the semiconductor ecosystem, with a focus on strengthening indigenous material capabilities and supply-chain resilience.

The Ministry of Electronics and IT, the Ministry of Power and POWERGRID also announced a collaboration to support indigenisation of silicon carbide power modules for voltage-source-converter-based high-voltage direct-current transmission systems. The technology is proposed to be piloted at POWERGRID’s 1,000 MW Pusauli project in Bihar.

Several announcements focused on power electronics and emerging technology applications. L&T Semiconductor Technologies announced collaborations with Virtual Forest for power-electronics solutions for air-conditioning and solar-powered systems, Newen Systems for silicon carbide power modules for renewable-energy systems and AI data centres, Fimer India for insulated-gate bipolar transistors for renewable-energy systems, and Capital Power Systems for IoT modules for smart meters, beginning with an indigenous 4G communication module.

Tata Electronics and L&T Semiconductor Technologies also entered into a strategic partnership to explore manufacturing L&T’s semiconductor products at Tata’s fab and OSAT facilities, beginning with consumer-grade camera modules.

The India Deep Tech Alliance reported investments of USD 263 million across 56 Indian deep-tech companies, while SEMI and IDTA announced a collaboration to develop the India Semiconductor Academy, an industry-led national skilling platform involving partners including Cadence, CG Semi, Dixon Technologies, Micron Technology, Synopsys, 3D Glass Solutions, UC San Diego and IIT Kanpur.

The India Semiconductor Mission and Nippon Express Holdings signed an MoU to strengthen semiconductor logistics infrastructure, with Nippon Express providing expertise in logistics, warehousing, customs and related supply-chain requirements.

The Minister also highlighted opportunities for Indian entrepreneurs, stressing that semiconductor companies would have to compete globally on cost and quality while factoring in manufacturability, product life cycle and power consumption.

A key highlight of the day was the launch of India’s first indigenous System-on-Module, the ISC-VEGA-SOM, by IndieSemiC and C-DAC. The module integrates C-DAC’s VEGA Thejas32 processor with IndieSemiC’s globally certified LoRa-RF module and was developed under C-DAC’s Industry Support Centre initiative.

Vaishnaw said the development demonstrated that Indian design companies supported by the Design Linked Incentive programme were moving beyond innovation towards commercial products. With chips entering final products, he said, India was steadily evolving into a product nation.

Kaynes Semicon and IndieSemiC announced an OSAT collaboration covering qualification, assembly and testing of advanced QFN and BGA packages and customised System-in-Package development. Kaynes Semicon also announced collaborations with Microchip Technology and GridCrest Technologies to explore an end-to-end India pathway for energy-metering system-on-chips, and with United BC Team for a phased roadmap for advanced intralogistics and lights-off semiconductor manufacturing.

Workforce development and semiconductor education featured prominently among the announcements. NIELIT signed agreements with Siemens EDA, Tata Electronics, Singapore Polytechnic International, SCL, IESA and SEMI University covering access to industry-grade EDA tools, ATMP workforce development, semiconductor education and training, workforce development, faculty development and industry-oriented certification.

NIELIT and SCL also formally launched an indigenous 0.8-micron open-source Process Design Kit on the NIELIT eChipHub platform, aimed at widening access to chip-design capabilities for students and innovators.

Silvaco and C-DAC’s ChipIN Centre announced a collaboration to provide advanced TCAD tools to startups and MSMEs onboarded under the DLI programme, as well as for C-DAC’s research and training initiatives.

Sustainability was another focus of the Minister’s interaction with the media. Vaishnaw highlighted extensive water recycling in semiconductor fabrication facilities and closed-loop cooling systems in data centres, stressing the importance of resource-efficient technologies as semiconductor and digital infrastructure expands.

The 25 announcements on the second day covered supply-chain localisation, manufacturing, materials, advanced packaging, power electronics, chip design, logistics, skilling and deep-tech investment, reflecting the expanding range of activities being developed around India’s semiconductor ambitions.

SEMICON India 2026 is being held at Yashobhoomi in New Delhi and will conclude on September 19. The event features more than 600 participating companies and is expected to draw around 50,000 visitors, with representatives from 52 countries, more than 400 executives and over 150 speakers.

The exhibition includes six country pavilions representing Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Singapore and Sweden, along with 12 state booths, a Startup Pavilion, Innovation Showcase, Student Hackathon and Workforce Development Pavilion.