New Delhi, July 16 -- The Union cabinet on Wednesday formally approved the Rs.1.27 lakh crore India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) 2.0, a six-year programme aimed at expanding the country's chip strategy beyond fabrication and packaging into a comprehensive semiconductor ecosystem. The expanded initiative will cover the production of essential machines, chemicals, gases, materials, intellectual property, and talent development. The second phase of the mission is expected to attract around Rs.4 lakh crore in investment, generate Rs.2 lakh crore in production, and yield Rs.1 lakh crore in exports, the government stated. HT reported in March that the ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY) had sought in excess of Rs.1 lakh cror...