Semicon 2.0 opens for applications as Vaishnaw asks for 18-19 ‘non-serious’ electronics scheme applicants to be rejected

The IT Minister launched the Semicon 2.0 portal at a New Delhi event on Friday, 6 November, and told his IT Secretary to reject 18-19 applicants under the electronics component scheme. Twelve fresh projects worth ₹7,503 crore were cleared at the same event.

By Telugu Scope Desk

Published November 7, 2026 · 2 min read

A silicon wafer lined with rows of chips, reflecting bands of blue, pink, yellow and green against a black background

Ashwini Vaishnaw, the IT Minister, opened applications for Semicon 2.0 at a New Delhi event on Friday, 6 November, and in the same speech asked for 18-19 applicants under India’s electronics component scheme to be rejected. “We don’t want placeholders,” he said, addressing IT Secretary S. Krishnan. His remarks did not name the applicants he called non-serious.

The new web portal handles only part of the programme so far. Companies can file for machines and materials, for new fabrication plants, and for chip assembly, testing and packaging. Those three are the only pillars with guidelines, so design, research and talent must wait. Vaishnaw said the portal will refuse any application that is incomplete.

The Cabinet has given Semicon 2.0 an outlay of ₹1,27,500 crore. Machine and material makers can claim 30% capital support, while wafer, compound and display fabs can get 35-40%. Vaishnaw wants no fewer than three big equipment makers and five chemical and gas firms to set up in India.

Twelve more component projects cleared

The event also brought 12 new approvals under the Electronics Components Manufacturing Scheme (ECMS), worth ₹7,503 crore in investment, ₹39,045 crore in projected output and 7,127 direct jobs. The largest is Indo Asia Copper’s ₹3,546-crore copper foil plant at Amreli in Gujarat. Specialty ceramics, copper foil and cathode active material win their first ECMS approvals in this round. Rockwell Automation India and Wipro Pari Robotics also made the list.

Tamil Nadu takes four of the projects. Gujarat and Maharashtra have two each, and Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka one each. Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have none in this batch.

ECMS now stands at 118 approved applications across 34 products and 16 states. Committed investment has reached ₹77,051 crore, well past the ₹59,350 crore first planned, and projected output ₹5.73 lakh crore against ₹4.56 lakh crore. Direct jobs are put at 81,755 against a target of 91,600. The minister said the new mobile phone manufacturing scheme will face the same test of seriousness.

Representative image. Photo: Enrique Jiménez / CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons