Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], September 17 (ANI): British semiconductor company Arm will design and develop the most advanced chips of 2nm in India, Union Minister for Electronics and IT Ashwini Vaishnaw announced.

Such advanced technology chips are used in AI servers, drones, and mobile phones.

On Tuesday, Vaishnaw announced that the Arm office for semiconductor design was opened in Bengaluru.

'...under the semiconductor mission, one of the major targets that we have taken is to develop a very deep talent pipeline. And this is reflected in the way so many global design companies are coming to India because the talent is here,' Vaishnaw said in a video on the timeline of his handle on social media X.

India's semiconductor mission is today supporting 278 universities and institutions where the world's latest EDA tools are available to students and the students are designing chips -- 28 of those chips have already been designed, the minister said.

'This is reflected in the confidence that the global semiconductor companies have in India semiconductor mission, and that's why they are coming to India in such large numbers,' he added. 'I'm told that Arm will be designing even two nanometer chips here in this unit in Bengaluru. So congratulations to Arm and congratulations to the entire team.'

India is taking its semiconductor mission to an advanced level, with plans to move from 28-nanometre fabs towards the manufacturing of advanced 5-7-nanometre chips, and even more advanced chips going ahead.

Semiconductors are at the heart of modern technology. They power essential systems in healthcare, transport, communication, defence, and space. As the world moves toward greater digitalisation and automation, semiconductors have become integral to economic security and strategic independence.

In just four years, since the launch of the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) in 2021, India has transformed its semiconductor journey from vision to reality. To support this vision, the government announced a Rs 76,000 crore Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme, of which nearly Rs 65,000 crore has already been committed.

Semiconductor company CG-Semi is expected to roll out the first 'Made in India' chip from its pilot facility in Gujarat's Sanand later this year.

In June 2023, the government approved the first proposal for establishing a semiconductor unit in Sanand.

As of the date, the government has approved 10 semiconductor manufacturing projects with a cumulative investment of more than Rs 1.60 lakh crore in six states: Gujarat, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Odisha, and Andhra Pradesh.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has already begun work on the next phase of India's semiconductor programme, Semicon 2.0, and is currently holding internal discussions and with various line ministries to finalise its contours. (ANI)