Why the World's Semiconductor Equipment Makers Are Gravitating Toward India

Fabs get the headlines, but nothing inside one runs without capital equipment, ultra-pure gases and chemicals, and the mechanical infrastructure that keeps a cleanroom a cleanroom. Semicon India 2026 was the clearest signal yet that the world's equipment majors are done watching India from a distance.

Semiconductor tools,  lithography scanners, deposition and etch systems, metrology instruments, CMP polishers  typically account for 70 to 80 percent of total fab capital expenditure, which is precisely why the equipment announcements at SEMICON India 2026 mattered as much as any fab groundbreaking. Four of the industry's biggest names used the event to convert years of India engagement into hard commitments.
The big four commitments
Applied Materials' President of its Semiconductor Products Group, Dr Prabu Raja, announced India Vision 2035 from the inaugural stage: a USD 5 billion investment over the next decade, including a 140-acre advanced semiconductor research park and a tenfold expansion of the company's India-based supply chain capacity by 2035. The vision rests on three declared pillars  deepening R&D in India, accelerating the broader ecosystem, and growing future talent  and was backed by a separate MoU with the Government of Karnataka worth ₹3,600 crore for research, development and production of chipmaking equip...