In the cutthroat world of global tech where the stakes are sky high, silicon has become the new black gold. In February of 2026 the government of India decided to make a bold move, putting its tech ambitions on the fast track by launching India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) 2.0.
ISM 1.0 was all about putting India on the map after its launch in 2021, but ISM 2.0 is a whole different story. This one’s about turning on its head the way we think about manufacturing. In a nutshell, ISM 2.0 is all about making India a global deep-tech powerhouse that can produce the world’s most advanced 3nm and 2nm chips, not just some run of the mill chips.
What’s the Difference between ISM 1.0 and ISM 2.0?
ISM 1.0 is basically the “Foundation Phase”. It came first and focused on getting the basics right – setting up places like Assembly, Testing, Marking & Packaging (ATMP) units and getting global bigwigs like Micron and Tata-PSMC on board to build mature-node fabs (28nm to 90nm).
But then came ISM 2.0, announced in the Union Budget 2026-27, which is all about “Going Deep” The focus now is on:
- Getting Down to Business: From mature nodes to the bleeding-edge sub-5nm technology.
- The Full Monty: Not just churning out chips, but getting the specialized equipment, chemicals, and gases needed to build them.
- Indigenous Ingenuity: Creating the next Qualcomm – funding 50+ fabless startups to own the intellectual property they design.
The Roadmap: From 28nm to the “Moonshot” 2nm
Getting to 2nm is no ordinary feat; it’s a game-changer. Here is the official roadmap laid out by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Tech (MeitY):
To make India a global player in the 2nm space by 2035, the country is shifting from the FinFETs used in 3nm chips to GAA architectures needed for 2nm. This leap is expected to deliver a 30% boost in energy efficiency and a 15% boost in performance, which makes India a crucial supplier for the AI and HPC markets.
The Three Main Pillars of ISM 2.0
- Self-Sufficiency: ISM 2.0 includes a specialized sub-scheme with a ₹40,000 crore (~$4.8 billion) budget to promote the domestic production of high-purity chemicals, substrates, and semiconductor equipment – so we don’t have to rely on others.
- The Talent Pool: While the world is short of cleanroom engineers, India’s already built a pool of 67,000 trained professionals, with a target of 85,000. And with “Virtual Twin” software simulations, training time has been cut by 40%.
- Indigenous Processors: The development of home-grown processors like DHRUV64 and SHAKTI (based on RISC-V architecture) means India is not just a “back office” for global brands – we’re our own bosses.
Conclusion: India Aiming to be a Top 4 Semiconductor Nation
By 2035 India aims to be right up there in the top four semiconductor nations globally. The transition from ISM 1.0 to 2.0 marks a shift from “Make in India” to “Design and Innovate in India”. With a massive market of $110 billion by 2030, the silicon revolution in India has gone from just a dream to a very real – and very ambitious – goal.
