10 semiconductor projects approved, 4 reach pilot production: Minister

New Delhi: Government has approved 10 projects currently in various stages of pilot production, with envisaged investments of about Rs. 1.6 lakh crore and four having started production, Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Jitin Prasada said in a written reply in Lok Sabha on Wednesday.

The approved projects include two fabs and eight packaging units such as CMOS (silicon) fabs, a silicon carbide fab, advanced packaging and memory packaging units. As many as 24 chip‑design projects have been supported through startups, of which 16 have completed tapeouts and 13 have received venture capital funding, according to an official statement.

The Ministry of Electronics & IT highlighted that 350 universities have been given access to electronic design automation (EDA) tools used by 65,000 engineers.

The government launched the Semicon India Programme with a total outlay of Rs 76,000 crore to build a full semiconductor and display manufacturing ecosystem — from design, fabrication to assembly, testing, packaging and module manufacturing and fabrication.

The government also cited National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) estimates that the IT sector’s performance over five years have improved, with exports rising from $152 billion to &224.4 billion from 2020-21 to 2024-25.

The total revenue rose from $196 billion to $283 billion in the corresponding period, the ministry said.

The government also listed details of ten semiconductor manufacturing projects.

One Gujarat-based project will enable assembly and test manufacturing for both DRAM and NAND products and address demand from domestic and international markets. The production capacity is around 14 million units per week.

Analysts predicted that the launch of India Semiconductor Mission 2.0 will significantly strengthen the country’s technology ecosystem by deepening the integration of hardware and software capabilities, positioning India as a leader in next‑generation digital infrastructure.

The government's Rs 7,280 crore scheme for Sintered Rare Earth Permanent Magnets (REPM) is expected to act as a force multiplier for India’s broader semiconductor manufacturing ambitions by ensuring secure access to strategic materials.