New Delhi, Aug. 15 -- India is expected to see another five to eight semiconductor plants begin operations over the next seven to eight years, underlining the government's push to build domestic chip manufacturing capacity as a key pillar of its self-reliance and development agenda, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday.

Addressing the nation from the Red Fort on the 80th Independence Day, Modi said three major semiconductor plants had already been started in the country and that production from these facilities had begun to be exported. He said semiconductors had become indispensable across electronic goods, medical equipment and transportation systems, with the functioning of the modern technology ecosystem increasingly depende...