Data centres to be major pillar of India's growth journey, investments to exceed $ 200 billion: Ashwini Vaishnaw

Speaking at a Qualcomm event to announce 2 nanometre chip of the company, which has been developed in India, Vaishnaw said, "Data centres are going to be a major growth journey in the coming years. So far, we have committed 70 billion dollars in investments. If we add the other announcements, the total is about 90 billion dollars. I expect this number to exceed 200 billion dollars in the coming months... That will generate new opportunities for our service providers, young startups who can provide new solutions, and it's going to create that strength which is needed in all 5 layers of the AI architecture, the AI stack."

The focus is on strengthening India's AI capabilities, with data centres enabling startups to develop and offer solutions globally. Vaishnaw emphasised the need for robust computing facilities to support this growth.

"We need strength in each one of them. Many of our startups will be very keen on having more computing facilities available in our country through these data centres so that they can use them for developing solutions and also providing the solutions to the world," he added.

This comes after the announcement of the interim framework of the India-US trade agreement. India and the US announced a framework for an Interim Agreement regarding reciprocal and mutually beneficial trade.

The joint statement said the framework reaffirms the countries' commitment to the broader Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) negotiations launched by President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 13, 2025, which will include additional market-access commitments and support more resilient supply chains.

Vaishnaw also announced Semicon 2.0, focusing on semiconductor design, equipment, and talent development. The mission aims to enhance design capabilities, boost fabs and ATMP unitsm and advance to 7nm technology from 28nm. A 20-year roadmap is being developed to align with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision.

"We will soon launch the Semicon 2.0 mission, announced by the Finance Minister in our budget speech. We will prioritise design, followed by equipment and materials. Talent to the next level, where much deeper capability - that capability to design a complete system as a student - will be our next target. Getting more fabs and ATMP units will also be part of the work, and making sure that our path to 7 nanometers from the current 28 nanometers, that progress to 7 nanometers, will be part of the next version of Semicon 2.0, which we should be able to finally complete within the next few months, and that will be another great chapter in the journey. It's a long, multi-decade journey. Our Prime Minister has said it should be a 20-year roadmap we lay out for the country, so the country can continue to develop over many years in this industry," he said.

Vaishnaw showcased a silicon wafer with 20-30 billion transistors per die, highlighting India's semiconductor progress. The chip design enables AI applications in devices, cars, and more.

"This is the wafer in which each die has about 20 to 30 billion transistors... One die is one of those squares you see... This transistor density is used to design the silicon. This is essentially a single chip with a GPU and a CPU. The end product that comes out of this is this kind of module, which becomes an AI computer on the desktop of any person, on the edge, meaning within a camera, within a Wi-Fi router, or within a device on any machine, or any moving car, automobile, train, or aeroplane... That kind of development is underway and reinforced by the talent pipeline we are creating as part of Semicon mission 1.0... We set a target of 85,000 semiconductor-trained people over 10 years. I'm happy to share that, over 4 years, we have trained 67,000 semiconductor engineers. This is now available at 315 universities and colleges, where all semiconductor design-related EDA tools are available. The students are designing chips... The final product is being validated, and it's a strong capability because few universities and countries worldwide have this kind of model," he said.

Semicon mission 1.0 has trained 67,000 engineers in 4 years, with 315 universities offering semiconductor design tools. Vaishnaw shares the model at Davos, expecting India to fill the global talent gap. Moreover, the Union Budget reforms aim to boost IT services and attract industry investment.

"Recently, at Davos, when I shared this model with semiconductor industry leaders, they were very happy about it and believe that the 1 million talent gap in the semiconductor industry will largely be filled by talent from India... In the recent budget, the entire IT services industry has undergone various simplifications. Whether it is getting the APS done or getting the safe harbour clause properly defined, all those things are in place. Today, the industry aims to enter India in a big way. Whatever progress we have seen in the last few years will accelerate with the announced reforms...," he added.

Ashwini Vaishnaw unveiled a high-tech 2-nanometre chip manufactured by Qualcomm. On the occasion, the minister underscored the country's rapid progress in building an end-to-end semiconductor ecosystem.

Speaking at the event, Vaishnaw said the development marks a shift from India's earlier role as a back-office destination to a hub for end-to-end semiconductor product development, spanning customer product definition, silicon design, tape-out, and validation.

"Our country is making major progress in the semiconductor manufacturing design and getting the entire ecosystem in our country. It's a new industry," he said. (ANI)