India’s electronics and information technology minister, Ashwini Vaishnaw, has warned that the country’s semiconductor push will face sustained hostile activity, including cyberattacks, fake news campaigns and physical attacks, as India positions itself as a serious player in global chip manufacturing. In an interview with NDTV published on Sunday, September 20, Vaishnaw said India’s emergence in both chip design and manufacturing is likely to be regarded as a threatby established participants in the industry. He told companies they should expect attempts to disrupt India’s progress. “We will face cyberattacks. People will spread a lot of fake news. They will also try to do all kinds of physical attacks,” Vaishnaw said. “We have to be prepared for this because this is a strategic industry.” The minister’s warning camejust days after India hosted SEMICON India 2026 in New Delhi, wherethe government showcased billions of dollars in new investment pledges and announced that five semiconductor manufacturing plants had begun commercial production under its first phase. It also came as India gears up for Semicon 2.0, the second phase of a heavily subsidized national effort to build a self-sufficient semiconductor ecosystem. That phase, approved by the Union Cabinet in July, carries an outlay of ₹1.275 trillion, roughly $13.5 billion, substantially expanding the support announced in the original ₹760 billion program launched in 2021. The ambition spans chip design, fabrication, packaging, equipment, materials, research and talent, reflecting a strategic viewthat semiconductors are central to India’s economic and technological sovereignty. Government officials have repeatedly argued thatthe program will reduce dependence on imports, create tens of thousands of skilled jobs, and position India as an alternative manufacturing destination for global companies diversifying their supply chains. Against that backdrop, Vaishnaw’s cautionary language amounted to a recognitionthat India’s rise won’t occur inside a protective bubble; it is likely to provoke resistance from interests that benefit from the existing concentration of semiconductor capability.
Vaishnaw expanded on those risks in a separate conversation with The Press Trust of India, saying geopolitical pressures would increase as India develops the ability to design and manufacture chips. “We have to continuously be watchful of the potential geopolitical risks which will arise because India is now emerging as a country which can design and manufacture chips,” he said. “That will be seen as a threatby many other established players.” The minister said he had discussed these concerns directly with semiconductor companies operating in India and had urged their leadership to treat cybersecurity, disinformation defense and physical security as integral parts of their business planning. His message, delivered to industry executives at a time of record government spending on the sector, was that vulnerability should not be underestimated. The semiconductor supply chain is globalized but geographically concentrated, with most advanced chip fabrication taking place in Taiwan and South Korea, while design and intellectual property are dominated by American firms and European equipment makers. India, by contrast, remains a relatively small manufacturer globally compared with Taiwan, South Korea, the United States and China, but it already hosts a substantial chip-design workforceand has been working to attract fabrication, packaging and materials investments. The government believes thatonce India gains a foothold in physical manufacturing, the balance of incentives in the global industry could begin to shift, and that prospect alone makes the sector a likely target for hostile actors. Vaishnaw did not identify any specific country, company or hacker group behind the anticipated threats, but his language reflected broader official concerns abouteconomic security in a domain where technology, trade and national security increasingly overlap. The United States, China, the European Union, Japan and others have all imposed tighter controls or launched massive subsidy programs for semiconductors, underscoring how strategic the industry has become. For India, the challenge is twofold:it must build advanced technological capabilities at competitive cost, while simultaneously hardening its industrial base against digital espionage, sabotage and propaganda intended to slow its progress. The minister’s injunction to industry was blunt:be prepared for such incidents now, not after they happen.
Underpinning that warning is an unusually ambitious state-backed expansion plan. The government’s first semiconductor program, launched in 2021 with ₹760 billion, was designed to offer financial support to companies setting up fabrication plants, packaging units and design infrastructure. Under that phase, officials say, five semiconductor manufacturing plants have begun commercial production, and twelve projects have been approved. The effort has attracted well-known names in chipmakingand electronics, although India has yet to produce advanced logic chips at scaleand remains reliant on imports for cutting-edge semiconductors. In July, the Union Cabinet approved Semicon 2.0, a follow-on programwith an outlay of ₹1.275 trillion, about $13.5 billion, tobroaden and deepen the ecosystem. The new phase explicitly focuses on six areas:semiconductor design, equipment and materials, additional fabrication plants, assembly and packaging facilities, research and development, and talent. The government has said it received investment commitments of about ₹1 trillion across the semiconductor ecosystem, and Ashwini Vaishnaw has put prospective investment under Semicon 2.0 at roughly $11 billion to $12 billion over the next two to three years. These figures suggest thatIndia’s semiconductor ambitions are no longer limited to a few isolated fabs; they now encompass the entire supplier base, including specialty chemicals, gases, photomasks, testing equipment and packaging materials, all of which are needed to make chip manufacturing viable. This expansion into upstream and downstream segments is part of the reason the minister warned of a broader range of threats. Adisruption at a single point in a semiconductor supply chain can halt production across the globe, and India’s efforts to create a resilient domestic base may be viewed by competitors as an effort to redraw the industry’s geopolitical map. For companies considering investing in India, Vaishnaw’s message served as both reassurance and caution:the state was committed to protecting the industry, but private players must also build their own security operationsand contingency plans. He argued that such preparedness should not be treated as an afterthought but as a core requirement for any firm seeking to take part in India’s semiconductor story
The scale of India’s recent push was visible at SEMICON India 2026, held in New Delhi over three days ending Friday, September 19. The Electronics and Information Technology Ministry said the conference logged more than51,000 registrationsand about 40,000 attendees, with over 600 exhibitors, including roughly 300 international companiesand representatives from 52 countries. Around the event, the government announced 56 memorandums of understanding, corporate commitmentsand other initiatives spanning manufacturing, chip design, packaging, equipment, materials, research and workforce development. Among the larger investment plans unveiled were commitments by semiconductor equipment and materials companies, as India seeks to attract the suppliers that cluster around fabrication and packaging plants. Opening the conference on Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India wanted to become a trusted manufacturing base ata time when companies around the world were seeking to diversify their semiconductor supply chains.“The world is looking for new and trusted manufacturing destinations. India is steadily preparing itself to meet this need,” Modi said. His remarks were aimed at multinational executives weighing investment decisions, many of whom are under pressure from their home governments to reduce dependence on Taiwanand Chinafor advanced chips. India is positioning itself as a politically reliable alternative, with democratic institutions, alarge engineering workforceand afast-growing electronics manufacturing sector. Yet the conference also highlighted how far India must travel. It does not yet have alarge-scale advanced logic chip fabrication facility, and most semiconductor components used in India are imported. The domestic industry remains concentrated in chip design, where Indian engineers contribute to global product development, rather than in the capital-intensive manufacturing stages. Semicon 2.0 is specifically designed to close that gap by subsidizing everything from materials research to workforce trainingand packaging. The government hopes that by anchoring downstream assembly, testing and packaging facilities in India, it can gradually attract upstream wafer fabricationand equipment manufacturing as well. The presence of hundreds of international firms atthe Delhi conference was asign of growing interest, but industry analysts note that investment commitments still need to be converted into functioning factories, cleanrooms, supply chainsand thousands of skilled technicians. Vaishnaw’s warning, delivered amid this mood of optimism, was areminder thatIndia’s semiconductor journey will likely be contested atevery stage
Vaishnaw illustrated his concern by pointing to problems that accompanied the expansion of Apple’s manufacturing in India. He referred to a2021 incident in which more than250 Foxconn workers became ill after eating contaminated food at company-linked accommodation near Chennai, prompting protestsand atemporary shutdown of the plant. Apple later put the plant on probation after Apple and Foxconn acknowledged that some dormitoriesand dining facilities had failed to meet required standards.“Remember, when Apple’s manufacturing started, some people did food poisoning,” Vaishnaw told NDTV, suggesting that the episode demonstrated how easily disruption could occur in astrategically important factory. The available public record does not establish thatthe food poisoning was deliberate sabotage,and Vaishnaw did not explicitly claim thatit was. He also accused Reuters of publishing“fake news” when the news agency reported that married women were being excluded from some assembly jobs atFoxconn’s main iPhone plant near Chennai. That2024 Reuters investigation cited workers, former employees, recruitersand job advertisements, andthe allegations prompted the federal labor ministry to ask Tamil Nadu state authorities for reports. The National Human Rights Commission said the claims, if established, raised concerns over equality and employment discrimination. Foxconn and Apple both said atthe time that they had policies against discrimination,and Foxconn denied that married women were barred from employment. Vaishnaw’s decision to cite these episodes inthe context of semiconductor security was telling. His broader argument was that when anew country begins to entera global industry dominated by established players, it should expect both open competitionand less transparent efforts to undermine its progress. He conceded that some actors would support India’s rise, but insisted thatothers would seek to slow or harm it. The minister’s remarks appeared designed to inoculate the semiconductor ecosystem against future incidents by setting the expectation that disruptions will occurand by urging companies to respond swiftly, transparentlyand without allowing them to derail the national program. For India’s political leadership, the credibility of the semiconductor mission depends not only on announcing investments but also on protecting workers, facilities and intellectual capital from both physical and digital threats. The examples from the Apple supply chain, whatever their precise causes, underscored how vulnerable large factories can be to operational shocks and reputational damage, and why the government wants semiconductor firms to build resilience into their core operations
Vaishnaw nevertheless argued thatthe semiconductor sector should expect opposition as India moves into an industry that governments increasingly regard as strategically important.“Once people start feeling thatanew country has come into this industry, there will be people who support us, but there will also be people who oppose us,” he told NDTV.“I have told the entire industry, be prepared for such incidents now.” His comments provide amore cautious counterpoint to the government’s increasingly ambitious semiconductor expansion, which has been marked by splashy announcements, international conferencesand promises of billions of dollars in investment. Atthe heart of the message is asimple proposition:India’s growing capability inchips will be noticed, and not everyone will welcome it. Some established semiconductor powers may use political pressure, export controls or diplomatic levers to slow India’s progress;others may try to shape the narrative through disinformation;still others might resort to cyberattacks or industrial espionage targeting fabs, design housesand research labs. The government’s response, Vaishnaw suggested, should be acombination of vigilance, resilience and public-private cooperation. Security, in other words, must be designed into India’s semiconductor ecosystem from the outset, rather than retrofitted after acrisis. For global companies evaluating whether to set up chip facilities in India, theminister’s warning may serve as auseful reality check. The country offers market access, policy supportand geopolitical appeal, but it is also entering ahigh-stakes arena where its rise will intersect with powerful strategic interests. The next few years will test whether India can convert its policy ambitions into operational reality, whether it can build the specialized workforceand supplier networksthat semiconductor manufacturing requires,and whether it can defend those assets against the array of threatsthat Vaishnaw described. As the country moves deeper into the second phase of its semiconductor program, theminister’s call to prepare for cyberattacks, misinformationand physical attacks is not merely asecurity directive;it is anacknowledgment thatIndia’s semiconductor ambitions have reached apoint where they are being taken seriouslyby the rest of the world. That, he implied, carries both opportunitiesand risks. The danger could be managed only if industryand government treat security as astrategic enablerand not as aconstraint. The minister’s warning, in effect, frames India’s semiconductor bid as along-haul project in which resilience is as important as investment,and where forewarned is forearmed.
