From sand to the chip in your phone: India's semiconductor chief explains every step

Every Indian who uses a phone, a laptop or a UPI app depends on semiconductors, and most have never seen one. As Semicon India 2026 opens in New Delhi on 17 September 2026, Amitesh Kumar Sinha, Additional Secretary at MeitY and CEO of the India Semiconductor Mission, sat down with Shradha Sharma, Founder and CEO of YourStory and The Bharat Project, and explained how a semiconductor chip is made using an analogy anyone can follow: a chip is a house. "A house is first designed, then constructed, t