India AI Impact Summit: First chip projects under semiconductor plan to begin production by Feb-end, says MeitY Secy

The first of 10 approved semiconductor projects under India’s flagship manufacturing programme will begin commercial production by the end of February, said S Krishnan, Secretary at the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). 

Krishnan said projects cleared under the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM 1) are progressing, with US-based Micron Technology set to produce memory components used in AI systems.

“The first of the 10 approved projects under the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM 1) will begin commercial production by the end of February,” Krishnan said at the India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi.

He said Micron would manufacture high-bandwidth memory (HBM), a critical component for advanced AI computing.

Krishnan added that the next phase of the programme, India Semiconductor Mission 2.0 announced in the Union Budget on February 1, would further strengthen local manufacturing with continued state support.

He also said recent budget measures clarified the tax treatment for overseas companies setting up AI cloud and data-centre infrastructure in India for global operations, a move aimed at attracting large-scale compute investments.

With one of the world’s largest electricity grids and rapidly expanding renewable energy capacity, India is positioning itself as a sustainable and scalable hub for data centres serving both domestic demand and international AI workloads, he said.

Krishnan said the government’s strategy prioritises improving access to computing power rather than directly funding data-centre construction.

“India has prioritised subsidising access to AI compute rather than directly funding data centre creation,” he said.