NEW DELHI: NITI Aayog has set an ambitious target of building a USD 120-150 billion semiconductor value chain by 2035, outlining a 10-year roadmap aimed at transforming India into a globally indispensable player in the chip ecosystem.
In a major push to deepen India's electronics manufacturing footprint and secure technological sovereignty, NITI Aayog's Frontier Tech Hub released the strategic blueprint titled “Future of India’s Semiconductor Industry” in May 2026. The report lays out a phased strategy to move India from being a downstream consumer of semiconductors to becoming a critical node in the global value chain.
The roadmap comes shortly after the Union Budget 2026 announcement of ISM 2.0 (India Semiconductor Mission), signaling a strategic shift from ecosystem creation to scaling up and deepening capabilities.
Rather than competing head-on in the race for cutting-edge foundry nodes, the report advocates a differentiated “More-than-Moore” strategy that leverages India’s strengths in chip design and focuses on high-growth niche segments.
By 2035, the report projects India could capture 10-13% of the global semiconductor market, while supporting a domestic semiconductor market valued at nearly USD 200 billion. It also targets 35-50% self-sufficiency in semiconductor demand and aims to retain 55-70% of value capture within the country through local design, packaging, and materials ecosystems.
India also aims to emerge as one of the top three global destinations for Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT) and advanced packaging, while building leadership in AI, quantum computing, and high-performance computing chip design with more than 100 advanced intellectual properties (IPs).
Ashok Kumar Lahiri, Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog, said growing dependence on imported black-box technologies poses a major strategic risk to the vision of Viksit Bharat, adding that technological sovereignty must begin at the infrastructure layer.
The strategy is built around five pillars — Pioneering, Policy and Investment, Production, People, and Partnership — designed to tackle structural challenges such as capital intensity, talent shortages, and long gestation periods.
Under the Pioneering pillar, the report proposes tiered subsidies for Electronic Design Automation (EDA) tools, a National Design and Packaging Co-Design Platform, and an AI-enabled Semiconductor Engineering Mission aimed at shortening chip design cycles through agentic AI.
For Policy and Investment, the roadmap estimates India will require cumulative investments of USD 135-180 billion over the next decade. It proposes that the government provide roughly one-third of this amount — around USD 45-60 billion — through a dedicated Semiconductor Support Fund to crowd in private capital.
The Production strategy prioritizes selective depth over broad replication of the global manufacturing chain. India plans to focus wafer fabrication efforts on mature logic nodes between 28 nm and 65 nm, along with specialty analog chips used in automotive, IoT, and power management applications.
The report also highlights opportunities in wide-bandgap semiconductor materials such as Silicon Carbide (SiC) and Gallium Nitride (GaN). To address the sector’s heavy power requirements, it recommends exploring Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) for dedicated nuclear energy supply to semiconductor fabrication clusters.
On the People front, the roadmap proposes a four-layer National Semiconductor Talent Pyramid. It recommends setting up a National Fab Academy staffed by industry experts to train cleanroom-ready technicians and expanding engineering curricula to focus on tape-out and package-aware validation skills.
The Partnership pillar focuses on building long-term collaborations with trusted technology partners including the US, EU, Japan, and South Korea to shield supply chains from export-control disruptions and geopolitical shocks.
India currently imports 90-95% of its semiconductor requirements, exposing the country to significant foreign exchange and national security vulnerabilities.
S. Krishnan, Secretary at the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), said the report provides actionable recommendations as the government refines the implementation framework for ISM 2.0.
Nidhi Chhibber, CEO of NITI Aayog, said the global supply chain realignment and China-plus-one strategy have opened a narrow but critical window of opportunity for India. She warned that the cost of inaction would not just be economic, but strategic in terms of national security and digital sovereignty.
