New Delhi [India], September 17 (ANI): Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Thursday said Semicon India 2.0 would target at least 200 startups and companies designing chips in India across the spectrum of semiconductor requirements.
“In SEMICON 2.0, we would be targeting at least 200 startups and companies which design chips in India across the spectrum of semiconductor requirements,” Vaishnaw said during Semicon India 2026.
He said 105 startups had participated in Semicon India 1.0, with around 20 of them receiving venture capital funding of about Rs 800 crore.
Vaishnaw said the second pillar of Semicon India 2.0 would focus on machines and materials, adding that the USD 5 billion investment announced during the event would go a long way in generating employment in the country.
According to the Minister , the third pillar would focus on displays, memory, silicon, compound and logic, while the fourth pillar would focus on advanced packaging units.
“We already have a 3D packaging unit coming up in Odisha,” Vaishnaw said.
Vaishnaw said the fifth pillar would focus on research and development, with projects involving cutting-edge industry requirements being taken up through industry-academia collaboration.
“This will be fully driven by the industry and academia, absolutely working in harmony and in synchronisation. It won’t be an isolated kind of R&D. It will be a very applied kind of R&D that we would be looking at,” he said.
On the sixth pillar, Vaishnaw said the focus would be on talent development. He said Semicon India 1.0 had promised to train 85,000 design engineers over 10 years, adding that 70,000 design engineers had already been trained in four years.
“In Semicon 2.0, we will take a big task of developing technician talent, the clean room talent, the factory floor talent, and we will be targeting 1 lakh talent to be developed,” he said.
Vaishnaw said the talent would be directly employed in factories coming up in India and would also constitute a global pool of talent.
SEMICON India 2026, being held from September 17 to 19, will focus on industry engagement, policy direction and international partnerships. According to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), the conference is being organised jointly by the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM), MeitY and global industry body SEMI under the theme "Silicon to Systems: Building the Ecosystem."
According to MeitY, the convention will gather over 600 exhibitors, including 300 international firms, across 15,000 square metres, alongside more than 150 speakers. The exhibition floor will feature six country pavilions and 12 state government pavilions, alongside dedicated segments for startups, student hackathons, and workforce development.
The event will also present an official review of manufacturing milestones. Under the Semicon India Programme, the Union government approved 12 semiconductor projects, with three approved units under Semicon 1.0 having commenced commercial production. The Union Cabinet has additionally approved the next phase, Semicon 2.0, structured around six core pillars (ANI)
Semicon India 2.0 to target at least 200 chip-design startups, companies: Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw
