Very soon we'll see first Made-in-India chip: Ashwini Vaishnaw

Bengaluru, Aug 10: Union Information and Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Sunday said that the country would witness the rollout of its first made-in-India chip "very soon" as six semiconductor plants are under construction in Gujarat, Assam and Uttar Pradesh.

Addressing the 'Next-Gen Mobility for a Next-Gen City' programme here, the IT Minister said, "Today there are six semiconductor plants under construction in our country and very soon we'll see the first made in India chip roll out of these factories."

Emphasising the government's resolve for the easy accessibility of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies, he said, "AI is shaping our world today. Our Prime Minister's vision is of democratising technology. It should be accessible to all. It should not be limited to a few. It should be available to all. That's why we have done the India AI mission in which 34,000 GPUs (Graphics Processing Units) are available today as a common compute facility for all our innovators."

"The price of these GPUs is just less than USD 1 per hour. And this is the most affordable common computer facility in the entire world," the Minister added.

Speaking at the same event, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also emphasised India's priority to become "self-reliant" in the technology sector, stating that the country will soon have its "Made in India" chip as the semiconductor mission gains momentum.

PM stressed that the journey of "Viksit Bharat" will move forward hand in hand with the Digital India initiative. He noted that with the India AI Mission, the country is advancing towards global AI leadership.

"Our next big priority should be becoming self-reliant in technology. The journey to a Viksit Bharat will move forward hand in hand with Digital India. Through initiatives like the India AI Mission, India is advancing toward global AI leadership. He added that the Semiconductor Mission is also gaining momentum, and India will soon have its own Made-in-India chip", PM Modi said.

In May, the Union Cabinet approved India's sixth semiconductor manufacturing unit in Jewar in western Uttar Pradesh. It will be established near Jewar Airport through a joint venture between the HCL Group and Taiwanese electronics giant Foxconn.

The sixth unit is expected to generate employment for around 2,000 people and will help significantly in strengthening India's semiconductor ecosystem. The unit at Jewar will have a 20,000 wafers per month capacity, and the chips will have 36 million (3.6 crore) per month.

Among other five semiconductor plants, four are in Gujarat: Tata Electronics–PSMC Semiconductor fab, CG Power–Renesas–Stars Microelectronics ATMP unit , Micron Technology’s ATMP unit and Kaynes Semicon ATMP unit, while the Tata Semiconductor Assembly and Test (TSAT) Unit is in Assam.

In 2024, the Government of India launched a comprehensive initiative called the India AI Mission aimed at positioning India as a global hub for artificial intelligence (AI) research, innovation, and adoption. The mission focuses on developing AI solutions across key sectors such as healthcare, agriculture, education, smart cities, and infrastructure to drive socio-economic growth.