India’s electronics exports have soared past USD 40 billion, marking an eight-fold growth during the last 11 years, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Saturday.

He also highlighted that the domestic electronics production has gone up by six times. Addressing the 14th Convocation of IIT Hyderabad, near here, Vaishnaw also emphasised the rapid progress of India's first bullet train project, which is expected to become operational by August or September 2027.

Looking ahead, Vaishnaw said the first Made in India semiconductor chip, on a commercial scale, will be manufactured this year. He expressed confidence that India is on track to become one of the top five semiconductor nations in the world in the coming years, citing its increasing focus on capital equipment and the materials required for semiconductors.

“In just 11 years, we have increased our electronics production six times. That's a CAGR double digit which any corporate would be envious of. We have increased our exports eight times, crossed USD 40 billion exports in electronics manufacturing, which is a phenomenal pace of growth, something which very few countries of our size have ever seen,” the Union Minister for Railways, Information & Broadcasting, Electronics & Information Technology said.

India could design a complete 4G telecom stack. Today, it is installed on almost 90,000 telecom towers, which is more than the network of many countries in the world.

As part of the telecom initiative, the government has set up 100 5G labs where the students can get hands-on experience of the 5G equipment, allowing them to work on real-world use cases and develop practical solutions, the IT Minister said. To cultivate talent in the semiconductor field, the Centre has given the latest EDA tools from Cadence, Synopsys, and Siemens to about 270 colleges and institutions and if the startups are added the number becomes 340, he said.

“Nowhere in the world has such a large talent development program ever taken up in the field of semiconductors,” Vaishnaw said.

‘Kazipet rail coach factory to begin production next year’

Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Saturday said production at the upcoming rail coach factory in Kazipet, Telangana, would begin next year.Vaishnaw, who visited the unit in Kazipet, about 130 km from Hyderabad, added that the facility is a mega, state-of-the-art factory being built with an investment of Rs 500 crore.Coaches, engines, and other components can be manufactured at the unit, which has been designed to support multiple types of railway manufacturing, said the Minister for Railways,

Information & Broadcasting, and Electronics & Information Technology.

He added that the factory features one of the finest designs in the world, and the products manufactured there would be of export quality.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is fulfilling Telangana’s long-standing demand for a coach manufacturing factory at Kazipet, he said.

Noting that the Indian Railways has bagged an order to export 150 locomotives, Vaishnaw said work on exporting metro coaches has also begun.

"India will emerge as a major railway manufacturing and exporting country in the future," he said.

Union Coal and Mines Minister G Kishan Reddy, who accompanied Vaishnaw, thanked Prime Minister Modi and the railway minister for establishing the unit in Kazipet.

He said the demand for setting up a railway coach factory is over 40 years old and that former Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao, a native of present-day Telangana (then part of Hyderabad state), had also made efforts toward it.

The demand was reiterated during the Telangana statehood agitation, and the unit has now become a reality under PM Modi’s leadership, he said.

The unit is expected to provide employment to around 3,000 people and generate indirect employment for many others, Reddy added.

Speaking to reporters, Vaishnaw said Hyderabad city is a prime focus for the development of the railway network.

The South Central Railway General Manager, headquartered in Secunderabad, has been given a target to increase the network’s capacity in the Hyderabad area (including Secunderabad and other stations) from about 600 trains a day to 1,200 trains per day, he said.

Vaishnaw also said the proposed Regional Ring Road (RRR) in Telangana would be a game-changer.

He noted that when Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy recently met him in Delhi, the CM had requested a 30-metre corridor alongside the RRR project to enable rail connectivity throughout the stretch.