The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has initiated partnerships with various Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and private institutions and colleges, to provide training activities including skill development in semiconductor manufacturing. It was stated by S. Krishnan, Secretary of the MeitY in New Delhi(Delhi) on January 08 2025.
- This move will give a boost to the semiconductor sector in India and will strengthen India’s position in global technology.
Key Points:
i.The MeitY informed that Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi-led government had already approved 5 semiconductor units under the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) to locally develop semiconductors and display manufacturing ecosystem in India with total budget outlay of Rs 76,000 crore.
ii.The companies which are establishing semiconductor units under the ISM include: the United States of America (USA)-based Micron Technology Inc., Tata Electronics Private Limited (TEPL), Tata Semiconductor Assembly and Test Private Limited, Karynes Semicon Private Limited, and CG Power and Industrial Solutions Limited(Crompton Greaves Limited), in collaboration with Japanese Renesas Electronics Corporation(RNECY) and Stars Microelectronics (Thailand) Public Company Limited.
iii.ISM, launched in 2021, is designed to promote the domestic semiconductor industry through incentives and strategic partnerships. It includes fabrication facilities (fabs), packaging, display wires, Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Testing (OSAT), sensors,and other key components.
Note: As per Industry estimates, the semiconductor market in India is expected to reach USD 109 billion by 2030.
Microsoft and MeitY Signed MoU to Train 5 Lakh Indians under IndiaAI Mission, Setup AI CoE in India
The United States of America (USA)-based software tech giant, Microsoft Corporation, Inc. has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with MeitY under the IndiaAI Mission, which aims to provide skill development training to 5 lakh students, teachers, and professionals in AI by 2026.
- This strategic partnership with MeitY aims to position India as a world leader in AI. It also aims to boost AI development and adoption in India and to foster inclusive, innovative and ethical AI ecosystem in India.
- This MoU was part of a series of collaborations announced by Satya Nadella, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Microsoft Corporation, Inc. , during his visit to India on January 08, 2025.
Note: These announcements came after Microsoft pledged to invest USD 3 billion to promote AI and cloud infrastructure in India over the next 2 years.
Key Points:
i.Under this MoU, Microsoft in partnership with MeitY will set up an AI Center of Excellence (CoE) named ‘AI Catalysts’, to promote rural AI innovation and support 1 lakh AI innovators and developers through hackathons, community-building solutions and an AI marketplace.
ii.Microsoft will also establish ‘AI Productivity Labs’ in 20 National Skill Training Institutes (NSTIs) centers across 10 states in India, to provide foundational courses for 20,000 educators.
Other Key Announcements:
Microsoft also announced collaborations with 5 key Indian Industries in sectors like: transport, healthcare, finance, agriculture and education.
i.Microsoft will provide training to the employees of New Delhi(Delhi) based RailTel Corporation of India Limited (RailTel) in next-generation digital, cloud and AI technologies through its National Skills initiative and Enterprise Skilling initiative. It will also support RailTel in setting up an AI CoE.
ii.Microsoft has entered into a 3-year partnership with Indian edtech company, upGrad Education Private Limited, Bengaluru, Karnataka . This will enable the users of upGrad to learn in AI training programmes.Content developers on upGrad will also get access to GitHub Copilot to create learning materials.
iii.Microsoft partnered with Indian automobile manufacturing company, Mumbai(Maharashtra) based Mahindra & Mahindra Limited, to develop various AI projects that include agentic and multimodal scenarios for the automotive division, chatbot solutions for the farm and tractors division, among others.
iv.Microsoft collaborated with Pune(Maharashtra) based Bajaj Finserv Limited, Non-Banking Finance Company (NBFC), which is implementing AI use cases across workstreams, powered by Microsoft’s advanced AI technologies, with an expected annual cost of Rs 150 crore in Financial Year 2025-26 (FY26).
v.Microsoft partnered with Chennai(Tamil Nadu, TN) based Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Limited to provide assistance to Apollo Hospitals in India, with its data strategy, engineering platform, and merging AI to create new Intellectual Property (IP).
About IndiaAI Mission:
i.In March 2024, the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi approved IndiaAI mission with budget outlay of Rs 10,371.92 crore (USD 1.25 billion) for over the next 5 years.
ii.It is being implemented by IndiaAI, an Independent Business Division (IBD) under the Digital India Corporation (DIC) of MeitY.
iii.It is based on 7 key pillars: IndiaAI Compute Capacity, IndiaAI innovation centre, IndiaAI Datasets platform, IndiaAI application development initiative, IndiaAI future skills, IndiaAI startup financing, Safe and Trusted AI.
About Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY):
Union Minister- Ashwini Vaishnaw (Rajya Sabha- Odisha)
Minister of State (MoS)- Jitin Prasada (Constituency- Pilibhit, Uttar Pradesh, UP)
