Onlykashmir.in News Desk
The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved Semicon 2.0, a major push to strengthen India’s semiconductor design and manufacturing ecosystem, backed by a total outlay of ₹1,27,500 crore, or upwards of thirteen billion dollars, in one of the government’s largest single commitments yet to the sector.
The scheme is intended to extend India’s earlier semiconductor initiatives, positioning the country more firmly on the global chip-manufacturing map at a time when nations worldwide are racing to secure supply chains for critical electronic components. Alongside Semicon 2.0, the Cabinet also cleared the Mobile Phone Manufacturing Scheme, carrying a budgetary outlay of ₹62,500 crore, aimed at deepening domestic value addition in handset production and reducing reliance on imported components.
In a separate but related decision, the Cabinet approved the Department of Fertilizers’ proposal for the National Investment Policy for Urea, 2026, designed to attract fresh investment into gas-based urea manufacturing units across the country. The policy is expected to encourage private and public sector players to set up new production capacity, addressing India’s continuing dependence on imported urea and supporting the government’s broader push toward self-reliance in critical agricultural inputs.
Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, who holds charge of Railways, Information and Broadcasting, and Electronics and Information Technology, briefed on the Cabinet’s decisions, framing the semiconductor and mobile manufacturing approvals as complementary steps that reinforce each other: chip-making capacity feeding directly into domestic handset production, and vice versa.
Industry watchers note that the scale of the Semicon 2.0 outlay reflects the government’s continued prioritisation of electronics manufacturing as a strategic sector, following earlier rounds of incentives that have already drawn several fabrication and assembly units to Indian soil. The Mobile Phone Manufacturing Scheme is expected to build on gains already made under previous production-linked incentive frameworks, which helped India emerge as a growing hub for smartphone assembly.
Taken together, Wednesday’s Cabinet approvals signal a continued emphasis on electronics self-sufficiency and agricultural input security, two areas the government has identified as central to its broader economic strategy heading into the coming fiscal year.
