Six of India's 12 semiconductor units to come up in Gujarat: Minister

The brief

Context

India began pushing domestic semiconductor manufacturing after the Covid-era chip shortage disrupted supply chains, including automobile production. Under the India Semiconductor Mission, 12 semiconductor manufacturing facilities are being established across the country. In an interview to The Indian Express, Gujarat's Minister for Forest, Environment & Climate Change and Science & Technology, Arjun Modhwadia, said six of these will be in Gujarat, and outlined the state's parallel push for data centres, an AI ecosystem and lion conservation measures.

Key facts

• Six of the 12 semiconductor manufacturing facilities being established in India, with a project cost of more than Rs 1.28 lakh crore, will be in Gujarat, per Minister Arjun Modhwadia.
• Three of Gujarat's semiconductor units, inaugurated by PM Narendra Modi, are already in the manufacturing stage; the fourth is Tata Electronics.
• Tata Electronics is investing Rs 91,000 crore to build India's first commercial semiconductor fabrication facility at Dholera with Taiwan's Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (PSMC).
• Two more facilities - Suchi Semicon's in Surat and Crystal Matrix's in Dholera - have been approved by the India Semiconductor Mission.
• The Viksit Gujarat Data Centre Policy 2026-29 targets 7.5 GW of data centre capacity, aimed at hyperscale, colocation and AI-ready data centres.
• Gujarat has received 14 data centre proposals worth over Rs 10.36 lakh crore with planned capacity of nearly 10,000 MW (10 GW); the state expects around Rs 6-7 lakh crore of actual investment.
• Interested data centre players include Reliance Industries, Torrent Power, Adani, Tata and Welspun Corp, with many proposals for Dholera.
• Mount Girnar has been notified a silent zone under a new SOP - no sloganeering or DJ music, penalty for violation - with more trackers, new checkposts and QR code-based entry/exit to prevent stampedes.

Timeline

1. 1980sGujarat focused on textiles, chemicals and pharmaceuticals and failed to build an IT ecosystem, as Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gurugram and Delhi moved ahead.
2. Covid pandemic periodSupply-chain collapse stalled automobile deliveries; PM Modi threw the challenge of manufacturing semiconductors in India.
3. Last DecemberAn organisation called AC Bharat Sarkar was accused of attacking government officials in a Banaskantha village.
4. July 7Kalu Bharwad was attacked by a lion while feeding his cow at Garajiya village, Bhavnagar district; videos of him stroking the lion went viral.
5. Recent (as stated)Three lion attack incidents reported - Chaturi village in Dhari taluka (Amreli), Mount Girnar, and another in Dhari block.
6. UpcomingVibrant Gujarat Summit to be held after a gap of three years; CM has visited the US and Canada, including Nvidia.

Who has a stake

• Government of Gujarat / Minister Arjun Modhwadia — Holds Forest, Environment & Climate Change and Science & Technology portfolios; must deliver semiconductor, data centre and AI ecosystems while managing man-animal conflict.
• Tata Electronics and PSMC (Taiwan) — Rs 91,000 crore investment in India's first commercial semiconductor fab at Dholera.
• India Semiconductor Mission — Central approving body; has cleared Suchi Semicon (Surat) and Crystal Matrix (Dholera) units.
• Data centre investors - Reliance, Torrent Power, Adani, Tata, Welspun Corp — Competing for allotment under a policy where proposals already exceed allottable capacity; a high-power committee will decide case by case.
• Competing states - Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu (Chennai) — Offering case-to-case incentives; Andhra Pradesh reportedly offers more despite less money.
• Local communities near Gir, Girnar and Dhari; maldharis — Face lion attack risk; depend on trackers, sensitisation and visitor regulation for safety and coexistence.
• National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) — Will decide on releasing cheetahs in Banni, where prey base and grassland are being developed.

Why it matters

Semiconductors and data centres are the physical backbone of India's digital and AI economy, and their concentration in Gujarat signals a shift in India's industrial geography as well as intensifying inter-state competition for incentives. The scale involved - Rs 1.28 lakh crore in chip units and proposals worth Rs 10.36 lakh crore in data centres - will shape jobs, power demand and skilling for years. At the same time, the minister's remarks on lion attacks show how the same state must balance high-tech growth with rising man-animal conflict.