Electronics manufacturing grows sixfold in a decade; high-speed corridors to draw Rs 16 lakh crore: Vaishnaw

Union Minister for Railways, Information & Broadcasting, and Electronics & Information Technology, Ashwini Vaishnaw, on Sunday (Feb 1) dubbed Budget 2026 as a roadmap for Viksit Bharat and said the increased outlay for Railways and Semiconductor manufacturing is a step in that direction. He highlighted the rapid growth of India's electronic and digital econsystem saying that the sector has witnessed unprecedented expansion over the last decade.

"The electronics manufacturing sector today employs about 25 lakh individuals. This is a huge jump over the last decade. In 10 years, electronics manufacturing has grown sixfold, and electronics exports have grown eightfold. Given the need to accelerate growth in electronics manufacturing, the finance minister announced Rs 40,000 crore for the electronics component manufacturing scheme and simultaneously announced Semicon 2.0. This is again a major achievement for our country and for our Prime Minister's vision that a futuristic industry like semiconductors, which will feed into AI, will be a significant boost to the economy. Data centres will be the backbone of the AI-led fifth industrial revolution." Vaishnaw said in an interview with ANI.

His comment followed the announcement of Semiconductor Mission 2.0 to strengthen the supply chain with a budget outlay of Rs 40,000 crores during the Budget speech by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

Underlining the importance of Digital infrastructure, the minister stated, "India will become one of the largest data centre hubs following today's policy announcement. Data centres will have a 20-year tax holiday. This will be a significant change. Overall, in the creator economy, 20 lakh new employment opportunities will be created, as the IICT (Indian Institute of Creative Technologies) will now be connected to 15,000 high schools and 500 colleges through the creator labs."

The Union Budget set aside the biggest ever outlay ever for Indian Railways for 2026 and announced 7 high-speed rail corridors connecting key economic centres across the country.

Also Read: More than 200 killed in intense clashes between separatists and army in Pakistan’s Balochistan

"Seven new high-speed corridors have been announced today. These high-speed corridors will significantly reduce travel time, bringing about a major change in people's lives," he said.

"Chennai, Bangalore, and Hyderabad--that southern triangle -- will drive significant economic growth across the southern states of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Karnataka. This will be a major, major win for all five southern states," he added.

Vaishnaw declared that about 4,000 kilometres of high-speed corridors will attract Rs 16 lakh crore in investment.