India's growth plan hinges on AI, semiconductors and smart manufacturing, says Minister Piyush Goyal

Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal outlined India's next phase of economic growth, emphasizing technology, research and development, and globally competitive manufacturing. He called for a shift from merely increasing output to producing smarter, higher‑quality products, focusing on emerging fields such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors, quantum computing, biotechnology, robotics and advanced materials.

Goyal announced a ₹1 lakh crore research and development innovation fund to provide long‑tenure, low‑cost risk capital for new technologies. The India AI Mission has already supplied 38,000 GPUs to startups and researchers, with further expansion planned. For semiconductors, the government introduced the SEMICON‑2 programme with a funding pool of roughly $12–13 billion to boost investment and integrate India into the global semiconductor ecosystem. He also urged Indian investors to back domestic startups and called on the MSME sector to adopt technology, improve productivity and maintain quality standards.