A record 27 Singaporean companies showcased their capabilities at SEMICON India 2026 as India accelerates efforts to build a domestic semiconductor ecosystem, despite skills shortages and supply-chain delays.
India’s semiconductor ambitions are drawing a growing number of Singaporean companies into the market, as the country pushes to build a domestic supply chain and reduce dependence on imports. At SEMICON India 2026 in New Delhi, the scale of that interest was on display: the Singapore pavilion featured a record 27 companies, up sharply from 10 in 2024, according to reporting by The Straits Times. The event came as India seeks to lift its semiconductor sector from a still-early manufacturing base into a broader ecosystem that can support chip design, fabrication, assembly and equipment services. The report said the market could exceed US$200 billion by fiscal 2035, compared with about US$64 billion today.
For Singapore-based firms, the attraction goes beyond immediate contract wins. Enterprise Singapore’s Tan Soon Kim said the country was interested in India because of its strong growth path, while Ang Wee Seng of the Singapore Semiconductor Industry Association pointed to Singapore’s long-established industry base, which spans the full value chain from research and development to manufacturing and testing. That depth, he said, gives Singaporean firms an opening in India as the latter tries to build a more self-reliant semiconductor industry. According to The Straits Times, Singaporean companies have won more than $180 million in contracts in India since 2024, and have invested more than $20 million while adding more than 300 workers to support government-backed projects.
Among the companies making that bet is Dou Yee Enterprises, a Singaporean specialist in semiconductor equipment and materials. The Straits Times reported that Sabu Mohamed Ayub, an India-born Singapore national who retired in 2024 after nearly four decades in the industry, returned to work for the company and moved to Chennai to lead its India operations. His decision reflected the pull of the market and the personal appeal of working in his home state of Tamil Nadu. The company now hopes to grow a business that started with consumables and has expanded into more specialised equipment, with Ayub saying annual revenue in India has risen to about $2 million and could reach $10 million by 2032.
Other Singapore firms are taking a similar view, but with different niches. Specmax Techno, which focuses on semiconductor engineering and high-purity piping installations, has seen its India business rise from about 100 million rupees in 2024 to more than 1 billion rupees, according to The Straits Times. The company says it still faces bottlenecks in sourcing materials, including imported gas valves from Taiwan that can take up to 18 weeks to arrive. To reduce that dependence, it is building a factory in Tindivanam, Tamil Nadu, at a cost of about 2 billion rupees, with production expected to begin in June 2027. The company also plans a training institute and has floated the idea of a fabrication plant near Bengaluru before 2030.
The broader policy backdrop is a large Indian push to create domestic capacity. According to The Straits Times, five of the 12 approved projects under Semicon 1.0, launched in December 2021, have already started production. A second phase was approved in July with a budget of 1.27 trillion rupees, and Indian electronics and information technology minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said contracts worth about US$12 billion had already been secured under Semicon 2.0. He has also been closely associated with the government’s effort to build a homegrown semiconductor ecosystem, at one point describing a spot on his office wall reserved for India’s first locally made semiconductor wafer.
Yet the opportunities come with operational frictions that foreign firms must learn to manage. Singaporean executives told The Straits Times that India can move more slowly than Singapore, that skilled semiconductor workers are hard to find and keep, and that shipments can be delayed by port checks and import rules. Tan said Enterprise Singapore plans to issue a checklist to help companies navigate those hurdles. Vaishnaw said his ministry has already worked with the finance ministry to change customs rules in response to industry feedback. Even so, firms such as IVT and Chasen believe the market is still at an early stage of development and see enough promise to commit. For Ayub at Dou Yee, the practical difficulties are worth absorbing if they unlock long-term growth in a market he believes still has room to expand.
Disclaimer: This article is intended to inform and educate, not to recommend or endorse any financial product, investment or strategy. Please consider your own financial circumstances and seek professional advice where appropriate before making financial decisions.
