MAINS Current Affairs includes India’s Emerging Semiconductor Ecosystem & MELTING OF GLACIERS: CAUSES, IMPACTS AND WAY FORWARD

Science and Technology/Economy

1. India’s Emerging Semiconductor Ecosystem

Context: The Prime Minister inaugurated the SEMICON India 2026 exhibition, featuring six Country Pavilions representing Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Singapore, and Sweden.

• Theme: “Silicon to Systems: Building the Ecosystem”
• The event highlights India’s efforts to develop an integrated semiconductor ecosystem spanning chip design, manufacturing, packaging, equipment, materials, research and skilled talent.

Global Status

• Semiconductors have emerged as a strategic resource for:
  • Economic growth
  • Technological leadership
  • Industrial competitiveness
  • National security
• The global semiconductor market grew at a CAGR of 6.5% between 2014 and 2024.
• It is projected to grow at approximately 5% over the next 5–10 years.
• However, recent disruptions have exposed vulnerabilities in the highly interconnected global semiconductor value chain.
• Geopolitical tensions have further highlighted the risks associated with excessive dependence on a limited number of suppliers and production centres.
• Global semiconductor manufacturing is currently dominated by Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, China and the United States.
  • Taiwan alone accounts for more than 60% of global chip production and nearly 90% of advanced chips, according to the source.

India’s Position

• India is witnessing rapidly increasing demand for semiconductors.
• The domestic semiconductor market is projected to reach around USD 110 billion by FY2030 and exceed USD 200 billion by FY2035.
• Despite this rising demand, India’s domestic semiconductor manufacturing capability remains at a nascent stage.
• India spent nearly USD 150 billion on semiconductor product imports during FY2017–FY2025.
• Semiconductor imports grew at a CAGR of 23% during this period.
• If this trend continues, annual semiconductor imports could potentially reach USD 240 billion by 2035.
• Developing an integrated domestic semiconductor ecosystem is therefore an important national strategic priority.

Various Steps

1. India Semiconductor Mission 1.0

• The India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) 1.0 was launched in 2021 under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).
• Its objective is to establish a comprehensive ecosystem for semiconductor and display manufacturing in India.
• The mission is supported by an incentive framework of ₹76,000 crore.
• It provides fiscal support of up to 50% for:
  • Silicon fabrication units
  • Compound semiconductor facilities
  • Assembly and testing units
  • Chip design
• Under the mission, 12 semiconductor manufacturing projects have been approved with an investment pipeline of approximately ₹1.64 lakh crore.
• These projects cover:
  • Silicon fabrication
  • Silicon carbide fabs
  • Advanced packaging
  • Memory packaging
  • Specialised assembly and testing infrastructure

2. India Semiconductor Mission 2.0

• India Semiconductor Mission 2.0 (ISM 2.0) was announced in the Union Budget 2026–27.
• It represents a shift towards strengthening and consolidating India’s semiconductor capabilities.
• Major areas of focus include:
  • Domestic production of semiconductor equipment and materials
  • Development of complete-stack Indian semiconductor intellectual property
  • Strengthening domestic and global semiconductor supply chains
  • Expansion of manufacturing and design capabilities

Six Pillars of Semicon 2.0

• ISM 2.0 seeks to strengthen the semiconductor ecosystem through six major pillars:

1. Design
2. Machines and Materials
3. Setting up More Fabs
4. Further Strengthening ATMP–OSAT Industry
5. Research and Development
6. Talent Development

• ATMP refers to Assembly, Testing, Marking and Packaging.
• OSAT refers to Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test.

Why are Semiconductors Strategically Important?

• Foundation of the Digital Economy: Semiconductors form the core component of almost every modern electronic device and digital technology.
• National Security: Semiconductor chips are indispensable for defence equipment, surveillance systems, satellites, cybersecurity infrastructure and strategic communication networks.
• Industrial Competitiveness: Countries with strong semiconductor manufacturing capabilities are leveraging technological leadership and industrial competitiveness.
• Technological Sovereignty: Domestic semiconductor production is necessary to reduce the dependence on foreign suppliers and strengthen self-reliance.

Indigenous Microprocessors and Core Semiconductor Technologies

• Microprocessors form the foundational layer of modern digital infrastructure, powering devices and systems across telecommunications, mobility, healthcare, industry, defence, and space.
• India has made focused investments to build sovereign capabilities in advanced processor design as a core pillar of semiconductor self-reliance.
• A key milestone in this journey is the launch of DHRUV64, a fully indigenous 64-bit microprocessor developed by C-DAC under the Microprocessor Development Programme (MDP).

What are the Challenges?

1. High Capital Investment

• Semiconductor fabrication plants require investments running into several billion dollars.
• They also involve long gestation periods before commercial returns can be realised.

2. Technology-Intensive Industry

• Semiconductor manufacturing involves highly sophisticated and continuously evolving technologies.
• Maintaining competitiveness requires sustained investment in research, innovation and technology upgrading.

3. Dependence on Imported Equipment

• India remains dependent on foreign suppliers for advanced semiconductor manufacturing equipment and specialised machinery.

4. Infrastructure Requirements

• Semiconductor fabrication requires uninterrupted electricity, ultra-pure water and highly reliable logistics infrastructure.

5. Skill Gaps

• The industry requires a highly specialised workforce trained in semiconductor engineering, fabrication processes and chip design

Conclusion

• India Semiconductor Mission 2.0 represents a shift from the initial stage of ecosystem creation towards ecosystem consolidation and deeper global integration.
• By strengthening support for manufacturing, semiconductor design, equipment and materials, R&D and specialised skills, India is positioning semiconductors as a strategic national capability.
• A robust domestic semiconductor ecosystem can strengthen economic resilience, digital infrastructure, industrial competitiveness and technological sovereignty, while reducing vulnerabilities arising from concentrated global supply chains.

Environment/ Climate Change

2. MELTING OF GLACIERS: CAUSES, IMPACTS AND WAY FORWARD

Context

• Recent floods in Nepal, triggered following an ice-and-rock avalanche, have renewed concerns regarding the rapid warming of Himalayan glaciers, the growing risk of Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs) and their implications for India’s water and economic security.

About Melting of Glaciers

• The Himalayas constitute an ecological mainstay of the Indian subcontinent.
• They influence the monsoon system, support biodiversity and pilgrimage-based economies, and feed the major river systems of Indus, Ganga, Brahmaputra
• Glaciers function as natural freshwater reservoirs, storing precipitation as ice and releasing meltwater, particularly during relatively dry periods.
• However, rising temperatures are accelerating glacier retreat and ice loss.
• Himalayan river basins could reach “Peak Water” around the middle of this century, after which shrinking ice reserves may result in declining long-term river flows.
• The Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) region could lose up to 80% of its present glacier volume by 2100, according to the source.

India’s Vulnerability

• The 2024 report, ‘A Resilient Himalaya: Protecting a Region at Risk and Securing Future Prosperity’, estimates that economic activity worth around ₹64.8 lakh crore, equivalent to 5% of India’s FY24 GDP, is dependent on the Himalayas.
• This figure does not represent a projection of GDP loss. Rather, it measures economic activity that depends upon Himalayan resources, particularly water.

Three Layers of Economic Dependence

• Direct: GSDP of Himalayan states.
• Indirect: downstream agriculture, manufacturing, hydropower and services dependent on Himalayan-fed rivers and groundwater recharge.
• Induced: supply-chain and wage-spending effects.
• The Himalayas occupy 18% of India’s land but account for around 35% of its disasters.

Key Reasons for Glacier Melting

1. Global Warming

• Rising global and regional temperatures accelerate the melting of glaciers and increase overall ice loss.
• Persistent warming can disturb the long-term balance between snowfall accumulation and glacier melt.

2. Black Carbon

• Black carbon is produced through incomplete combustion of fuels and biomass.
• When soot particles settle on snow and ice, they darken the surface, reduce its albedo and increase the absorption of solar radiation.
• Recent modelling cited in the source attributes approximately one-third of Himalayan glacier mass loss to South Asian black carbon.

3. Local Anthropogenic Pressures

• Local sources contributing to black-carbon and particulate emissions include: brick kilns, cookstoves, transport and crop-residue burning.
• These emissions can have impacts beyond their immediate source regions because atmospheric pollutants can be transported over long distances.

4. Infrastructure and Land-Use Change

• Expansion of: roads, hydropower and tourism facilities increase exposure and vulnerability in unstable mountain terrain.

Why Glacier Retreat Matters?

• Glacier retreat creates a dual challenge involving both a gradual economic burden and sudden disaster risks.
• Long-term glacier loss can progressively affect water availability, agriculture and hydropower.
• At the same time, high-altitude disturbances can rapidly transform into destructive downstream disasters.
• The recent Nepal floods demonstrated how events originating in high mountain areas can quickly affect downstream settlements and infrastructure.
• The reported failure of the Bhote Koshi warning system to detect the sudden debris surge also highlights limitations in existing hazard-monitoring and early-warning systems.

Black Carbon as an Actionable Intervention

• Reducing black-carbon emissions offers a relatively targeted intervention for limiting additional warming of snow and ice surfaces.
• Zigzag brick kilns can reduce:
  • Black-carbon and particulate emissions by approximately 70%
  • Fuel consumption by around 20–30%
• According to the source:
  • Punjab and Haryana have completed the transition to zigzag kiln technology.
  • Uttar Pradesh, India’s largest brick-producing state, has achieved around 56% adoption.

Impacts of Melting Glaciers

1. Water Insecurity

• Accelerated melting may initially increase meltwater availability in some basins.
• However, after Peak Water, continued loss of glacier ice can reduce long-term glacier-fed river flows.
• This can create significant water-security challenges for downstream populations.

2. Agriculture

• Changes in Himalayan river flows can affect agricultural systems dependent on these waters.
• Potentially vulnerable crops include:
  • Wheat and rice in the Indo-Gangetic Plain
  • Tea in Assam and Bengal

3. Energy Security

• Glacier and river-system changes have implications for hydropower generation, particularly in the Northeastern region.
• Changing water availability and extreme events can affect the reliability and safety of hydropower infrastructure.

4. Disaster Risks

• Glacier retreat can contribute to the expansion of glacial lakes.
• Where such lakes are held back by unstable moraine dams, sudden failure can produce Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs).
• These events can trigger flash floods, landslides, and avalanches.

5. Macroeconomic Stress

• Climate- and glacier-related disasters can disasters disrupt supply chains, displace people and increase reconstruction costs, potentially intensifying fiscal and sovereign-debt pressures.
• Repeated disasters can therefore intensify fiscal pressures and sovereign-debt vulnerabilities.

Case Study: South Lhonak Lake, Sikkim

• The South Lhonak Lake episode illustrates the challenge of identifying and responding to glacial-lake instability.
• A 2021 scientific study had identified instability associated with the lake.
• The lake subsequently burst, resulting in the deaths of at least 50 people, according to the source.

Related Measures & Efforts

1. National Mission for Sustaining the Himalayan Ecosystem (NMSHE)

• NMSHE is one of the missions under India’s National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC).
• It seeks to strengthen understanding, monitoring and conservation of the Himalayan ecosystem in the context of climate change.

2. Glacier and GLOF Monitoring

• There is a need to strengthen:
  • Glacier monitoring
  • Glacial-lake surveillance
  • Hazard mapping
  • GLOF early-warning systems
  • Community-level disaster preparedness

3. Transboundary Cooperation

• Himalayan hazards cross national boundaries.
• Greater India–Nepal–China information sharing on Himalayan ecology and transboundary hazards can improve:
  • Early warnings
  • Disaster preparedness
  • Scientific understanding
  • Risk reduction

4. Climate Cooperation and Technology Transfer

• International climate agreements and technology-transfer mechanisms can support vulnerable mountain regions in improving monitoring, adaptation and resilience.

5. International Experience

• The source cites Switzerland’s 2025 Blatten glacier-collapse response as an example where advance monitoring and evacuation measures helped limit casualties.
• Such experiences underline the importance of combining scientific monitoring with timely evacuation and community preparedness.

Way Forward

1. Adopt a Himalayan-Wide Risk-Informed Development Model

• Development planning in the Himalayas should incorporate:
  • Cumulative environmental assessments
  • Mountain-specific construction standards
  • Continuous glacier and glacial-lake monitoring
  • Hazard mapping
  • Community-based evacuation systems
  • Transboundary data sharing

2. Target Black-Carbon Sources

• India should consider establishing a targeted brickmaking transition fund to:
  • Support conversion of inefficient kilns
  • Retire highly polluting kilns
  • Accelerate cleaner kiln technologies
• Black-carbon reduction should simultaneously address multiple sources, including:
  • Brick kilns
  • Cookstoves
  • Transport
  • Crop-residue burning
• Such interventions should be planned at the airshed scale, rather than treating pollution sources in isolation.

3. Integrate Climate Mitigation with Disaster Resilience

• Glacier-related risks cannot be addressed through disaster response alone.
• Climate mitigation, disaster preparedness, resilient infrastructure and sustainable mountain development need to be pursued together.

Conclusion

• Himalayan glaciers are simultaneously water reservoirs, ecological assets and indicators of climate change.
• Their rapid retreat poses interconnected risks to water security, agriculture, hydropower, biodiversity, livelihoods and disaster resilience.
• India’s response therefore needs to combine emission reduction, scientific monitoring, climate-resilient infrastructure, early-warning systems, sustainable mountain development and transboundary cooperation.
• A risk-informed approach can help protect both the ecological stability of the Himalayas and the economic systems dependent upon them.

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