India’s Emerging Tech Hubs: Quantum, Photonics and Chip Fabrication Take Off

At a modestly‑laden press event on Wednesday, Sarin Sundar – the chief technology officer of the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) – laid out a surprisingly ambitious map of new tech hot‑spots across the country. He said that Andhra Pradesh is blossoming into a quantum‑computing and photonics hub, while Gujarat and Bhubaneswar are gearing up for fab‑and‑ATMP (Assembly, Testing, Marking and Packaging) clusters.

It sounds almost like a tech‑savvy version of the old industrial corridor idea, but with a distinctly 21st‑century flavour – think quantum bits instead of cotton gins. Sundar hinted that the government’s Semicon India 2.0 programme could soon be allocating close to USD 40 billion, although he was quick to add that those numbers are still fluid, especially as more states sign up and throw in extra support.

When asked about the blueprint, Sundar pointed straight at Taiwan’s famed Hsinchu valley. “If you look at Hsinchu, you see almost every fab tucked into a compact, well‑connected cluster,” he explained, gesturing as if tracing an invisible line on a map. “We’d like to emulate that model – but spread it out, so you have a quantum cluster in AP, a photonics cluster nearby, and fab/ATMP clusters popping up in Gujarat and Bhubaneswar.”

Among the concrete developments he mentioned, a 3D glass substrate – a key component for photonics – is now getting a full‑throttle push from an Intel‑backed partner called 3DGS. “It’s a 100 % take‑off from Intel,” Sundar said, a phrase that felt a little rehearsed but underscored the seriousness of the partnership.

On the chip‑making front, the Tata‑led fabrication plant is slated to start with roughly 50,000 wafer starts per month – a modest figure by global standards but a big step for a country that has long been more of a consumer than a producer of semiconductors. Full details of that and other approved projects are listed on the ISM’s website, which Sundar encouraged interested parties to explore.

Adding a layer of institutional support, the India Photonics Association (IPA) was officially launched at the same event. Described as the first independent, ecosystem‑led photonics body in the country, the IPA aims to be a neutral arena where industry players can collaborate, share insights and feed practical recommendations into policy‑making. In other words, it’s meant to help India’s photonics sector find its footing on the global stage.

All of this, Sundar admitted, is still in its early days. “We’re building the foundations,” he said, with a tone that mixed optimism and a hint of caution. “As more states get on board, the numbers will shift, but the direction is clear – we want a network of specialised tech clusters that can drive India’s next wave of innovation.”