New Delhi, February 20 (IANS). The growing technological relationship between India and Japan in the electronics hardware sector is now emerging as a new factor to further strengthen the strong economic and strategic ties between the world’s largest democracy and Asia’s tech giant.
As semiconductors, generative artificial intelligence (AI) and digital public infrastructure (DPI) drive global impact, this emerging “tech alliance” is becoming one of the region’s most important strategic partnerships.
According to an article published in India Narrative, after the 15th India-Japan Annual Summit held at the end of 2025, it has become clear that this relationship is no longer limited to trade only, but is related to creating the framework for a free and open digital future.
While India has a larger market and a huge number of young users, Japan offers high-end manufacturing capacity and long-term capital. Together, they are creating a strong democratic alternative that can be a balanced response to government-controlled digital models.
The biggest strength of this partnership is its complementary nature. India has emerged as a global example of large-scale digital transformation. The “India Stack”, which includes biometric identification of Aadhaar, Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and the new ‘Agri-stack’, has connected one billion people to the formal economy. The article says that these systems have helped overcome traditional structural barriers and proved that digital public instruments can promote inclusive growth.
The article highlights this synergy by giving the example of a joint venture formed between Tata Electronics and Japanese semiconductor company ROHM Co., Ltd. in December 2025. Under this agreement, Tata Group is assembling and testing ROHM’s India-designed automobile grade power semiconductors at the new $3.2 billion (about Rs 27,000 crore) facility set up in Jagiroad, Assam. These chips will be used in the next generation electric vehicles.
The combination of ROHM’s mature technology and Tata’s Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT) capability has resulted in reduced delivery times for the Indian automobile market. The collaboration, which is expected to begin mass production as early as 2026, is being hailed as an example of ‘Silicon Shield’, showing that Indian manufacturing can meet Japanese quality standards and serve the global market.
While there is no question about India’s strength in the software sector, dependence on foreign countries for hardware has long been a strategic weakness. Supply chain disruptions in the early 2020s taught us that technology can also be used as a tool of pressure. In such a situation, Japan’s global hold in semiconductor materials, photoresist and lithography equipment can become a strong solution for India.
Through the ‘India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) 2.0’ launched in the February 2026 Budget, the two countries have moved towards a collaborative ecosystem where Indian chip design capability and Japanese industrial leadership will work together.
The article also reports that the Electronics Components Manufacturing Scheme (ECMS) has been expanded with a budget of Rs 40,000 crore in the Union Budget 2026-27. This fund focuses on strengthening that part of the supply chain which has been weak till now. Under this, Japanese small and medium industries (SMEs) are being encouraged to set up specialized manufacturing units in new electronics clusters like Dholera and Sanand.
The initiative is not just limited to the assembly of devices, but is also a step towards ensuring rights over the intellectual property (IP) of the chips that power every sector from smart cities to defense systems.
–IANS
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