Gandhinagar: The Gujarat government, on Sunday, unveiled its Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Policy 2026–31 as Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel inaugurated the Gujarat SemiConnect Conference-2026 in Gandhinagar and outlined the state’s plans to expand semiconductor manufacturing, design and research.
The conference, organised by Gujarat’s Department of Science and Technology under the theme “Gujarat: India’s Silicon Gateway”, was attended by the Union Electronics and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, Deputy Chief Minister Harsh Sanghavi, State Science and Technology Minister Arjun Modhwadia, senior officials and representatives of domestic and international semiconductor companies.
In his address, Chief Minister Patel said the conference marked a shift in the state’s economic trajectory.
“This conference signals the transformation of Gujarat from the growth engine of the nation into a tech engine,” he added.
“With policy stability, transparency, ease of doing business and political will for development, Gujarat is emerging as a fast mover in semiconductor and chip manufacturing,” the Chief Minister said.
Referring to the national goals of “Viksit Bharat @ 2047” and “Aatmanirbhar Bharat”, Chief Minister Patel said that Gujarat was committed to fulfilling Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s resolve through “a journey from chip to champion”.
The Chief Minister also added, “Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India is strengthening its identity in the hardware sector and reinforcing the confidence that India is ready, India is reliable and India delivers.”
Chief Minister Patel said that Dholera Special Investment Region (DSIR) was “no longer merely a blueprint but is moving towards becoming the country’s Semicon City”.
He added that quality infrastructure, plug-and-play facilities and modern logistics systems had been developed in Dholera and Sanand to meet future requirements of the semiconductor sector.
“We are preparing the required infrastructure and logistics along with a young skilled workforce,” the Chief Minister said, adding that a nano-fabrication laboratory was being established at IIT Gandhinagar to support advanced research and training.
He also noted that as global industries faced concerns over carbon footprint and carbon taxes, Gujarat, as a power-surplus state with a strong renewable energy base, prioritised green growth.
On saturday, Union Minister Vaishnaw had marked a milestone in India’s semiconductor journey with the inauguration of Micron’s first plant in Sanand by Prime Minister Modi.
“With the start of Micron’s plant, India has secured a special place on the global semiconductor map,” he said.
Announcing the next phase, he said, “We will launch Semicon 2.0 with the objective of making India not only a manufacturing base but also a global hub for design, machinery and talent.”
Recalling the early stages of the programme, Union Minister Vaishnaw noted, “When the first presentation on semiconductors was made in 2021, the Prime Minister spent three hours reviewing every detail instead of the scheduled 45 minutes. That reflects the seriousness of this mission.”
He said that under Semicon 2.0, India would promote deep-tech start-ups so that companies similar to Qualcomm, Broadcom and Nvidia could emerge domestically.
“India will develop not only semiconductor chips but also chip-making machinery, materials and testing ecosystems, with a long-term vision,” he added.
On workforce development, Union Minister Vaishnaw said, “A global shortage of two million semiconductor professionals is expected, and India will help address this gap.”
He added that the target of training 85,000 engineers in 10 years had been achieved in four years.
“Students in 35 universities are already designing real chips. We will expand this network to 500 universities so that youth across states can participate in this high-technology sector,” Union Minister Vaishnaw said.
He also referred to infrastructure and financial commitments, saying, “At the infrastructure level, commitments of $250 billion have been made, along with $17 billion in deep-tech venture funding.”
Tax incentives had been assured until 2047 to provide policy stability, the Union Minister said.
“With surplus power and clean energy, Gujarat has a strong opportunity to establish data centres and contribute to India’s ambition of becoming a global data hub.”
Deputy Chief Minister Sanghavi said that Gujarat had become the first choice for investors across the country.
“Gujarat guarantees the highest return on investment in the country,” he said, adding: “It offers not just investment opportunities but a secure future.”
Presenting the economic data, the Deputy Chief Minister said, “With only five per cent of the country’s population and six per cent of its geographical area, Gujarat contributes more than 18 per cent to India’s manufacturing output, more than 8 per cent to GDP, over 30 per cent to exports and more than 40 per cent to total cargo handling.”
He added that long-standing political and policy stability was among the state’s key strengths and that the state government worked to resolve investors’ concerns.
State Minister Modhwadia said the Covid-19 pandemic had exposed vulnerabilities in semiconductor supply chains.
“When supply chains were disrupted, industries across the world were affected because semiconductors are critical components. Viewing this challenge as an opportunity, India decided to become a semiconductor hub,” he added.
Referring to the Micron Assembly, Test and Packaging plant in Sanand, the Minister said, “This is an important step, but significant progress remains ahead.”
(IANS)
