Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology, Ashwini Vaishnaw, highlighted India’s emerging role as a reliable partner for industry leaders in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and semiconductor ecosystem growth at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos.
He said that 46 component manufacturing projects, alongside manufacturers of laptops, servers, and hearables, had established electronics as a major driver of the manufacturing economy.
“The electronics manufacturing sector now supports 25 lakh jobs, with several factories employing more than 5,000 people at a single site. Some plants currently employ as many as 40,000 employees in a single location,” Vaishnaw said, adding that four semiconductor plants will start commercial production in 2026.
The minister said on Tuesday that the global industry sees the country as an increasingly reliable supply-chain partner.
“Bharat is building a complete semiconductor ecosystem covering design, fabrication, packaging, materials, gases and equipment,” he said, and added, “Global industry sees Bharat as an increasingly reliable supply-chain partner.”
Also Read: WEF 2026: India gears up for strong presence at Davos
In a post on X, Vaishnaw was seen holding meetings at the WEF, including those with IBM CEO, Arvind Krishna, and Meta Chief Global Affairs Officer, Joel Kaplan, to discuss India’s growing role in the global technology landscape and safety of social media users from deepfakes and AI-generated content.
Sharing the development in a post on X, Vaishnaw stated, “The world looks at Bharat as a key driver of global innovation. Met Mr. Arvind Krishna, CEO, @IBM and Mr. Joel Kaplan, Chief Global Affairs Officer, @Meta.”
He further highlighted that Google has also recently announced a massive investment of USD 15 billion over the next five years to establish a gigawatt-scale Artificial Intelligence (AI) hub in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, the company’s largest AI hub outside the United States.
A collaboration with IBM will strengthen India’s efforts in advanced chip technology (including 7 nm and 2 nm) and help in further developing the semiconductor talent pool in India as the country rapidly advances its semiconductor ambitions, recognising semiconductor chips as critical enablers of healthcare, transport, communications, defence, space, and emerging digital infrastructure.
The Government of India, through the Semicon India Programme and the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM), is also strengthening the domestic semiconductor ecosystem and supply chain.
The 56th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) is being held from January 19 to 23, 2026, at Davos-Klosters, welcoming nearly 3,000 participants from over 130 countries, including a record number of world leaders, CEOs, innovators and policymakers, under the theme, ‘A Spirit of Dialogue’.
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