Punjab, Sept. 10 -- Semicon India 2026 opens in Delhi on September 17 with more than 525 exhibitors, 60% up on last year, and companies from over 40 countries. Behind the exhibition sits a more consequential decision: Semicon 2.0, approved in July with an outlay of Rs 1,27,500 crore, widens India's semiconductor programme well beyond building fabs.
That widening is the most sensible thing India has done in this sector.
Fabs are the visible part, not the valuable part
The first phase of India's chip push was framed around getting fabrication plants built. Fabs are enormous, photogenic and politically satisfying. They are also the hardest possible place for a new entrant to build durable advantage: they cost billions, depreciate fast, and ...