India’s Next Chip Drive: Semicon 2.0 Calls for More CMOS, Memory, Display and Advanced‑Packaging Plants

On July 15 the Union Cabinet gave the green light to the second edition of the India Semiconductor Mission – popularly called ISM 2.0 – with a whopping outlay of ₹1.3 lakh crore. While the first phase got the ball rolling with a few fab‑related projects, officials now admit the country needs a lot more steel‑and‑silicon to become a genuine chip‑making hub.

Speaking to Moneycontrol on July 18, Electronics and IT Secretary S. Krishnan laid out a rather plain‑spoken roadmap. “We have one CMOS fab today, and that’s not enough. We need at least another CMOS plant, a dedicated memory fab and a display fab,” he said, adding that three or four compound‑semiconductor facilities would also be desirable.

At present India runs a single CMOS fabrication unit, one emerging compound‑semiconductor fab and a micro‑LED plant that’s still under construction. Two ATMP (Assembly, Testing, Marking and Packaging) units were also approved under ISM 1.0, but Krishnan stressed that the new phase will shift the spotlight from conventional packaging to what he calls “advanced packaging” – a segment he believes can let India leapfrog into the newest technology generations.

Why the pivot? “We had almost no presence in conventional packaging, so that was a priority earlier. Now the priority is advanced packaging, because it’s where the future is heading and we want to bring that capability home,” Krishnan explained.

The upgraded mission isn’t just about building more fabs. It also aims to shrink India’s dependence on imported gear, chemicals, gases and testing equipment. “Equipment, materials, chemicals, gases, testing rigs – all of these have to come into the country. We’ll be supporting that under Semicon 2.0,” he added.

In short, the government is betting that a broader, more self‑sufficient ecosystem – from raw inputs to high‑end packaging – will give India a credible seat at the global semiconductor table. Whether the ₹1.3 lakh crore budget can deliver on such an ambitious to‑do list remains to be seen, but the message is clear: the chip race is on, and India wants a bigger slice of the pie.