India Should Aspire to Lead in Emerging Technologies: PM Modi

GG News Bureau
New Delhi, 16th Sept: Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a Semiconductor Roundtable with leading global and Indian semiconductor industry CEOs at Seva Teerth on Wednesday, stressing closer industry-government engagement to strengthen India’s technology ecosystem.

During the meeting, the Prime Minister highlighted India’s growing strengths in talent, technology adoption and infrastructure, and called for greater participation by industry in skilling, innovation and emerging technologies, including Artificial Intelligence (AI) and quantum computing.

Referring to India’s target of training one crore people in AI, Modi said the country’s talent pool, combined with the experience and capabilities of global industry leaders, could create significant opportunities.

The Prime Minister said India should aspire to be among the early leaders in emerging technologies, noting the progress achieved in the semiconductor sector. He said the ecosystem is now moving beyond foundational efforts towards a phase of greater scale and opportunity.

Government assures predictable policy environment
Modi reiterated the government’s commitment to maintaining a predictable and responsive policy environment for the semiconductor industry. He said policies would need to evolve in line with technological developments and industry requirements.

The Prime Minister invited industry leaders to share suggestions on policy and administrative measures that could further strengthen the sector and assured them that their inputs would be duly considered.

He also encouraged semiconductor companies to actively participate in the next phase of India’s semiconductor growth.

CEOs express confidence in India’s semiconductor potential
The participating CEOs appreciated the government’s efforts to develop India’s semiconductor capabilities, citing progress in manufacturing, design, infrastructure and talent development.

They expressed confidence in the opportunities emerging under ISM 2.0 and in India’s potential to develop capabilities across the semiconductor value chain, including manufacturing, research and development, advanced technologies and supporting industries.

The industry representatives also expressed their commitment to contributing to India’s emergence as a globally competitive semiconductor and technology hub.

The meeting was attended by CEOs, heads and representatives of organisations including SEMI, Micron, Infineon, Applied Materials, ASML, Merck, Tokyo Electron Ltd, FujiFilm, AMD, Intel, Tata Electronics, Lam Research, Rapidus, NXP, Foxconn, Semiconductor Devices, Advantest, Celesta Capital, CG Power and IBM Research, among others.