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At Semicon India this week, ASML, Lam Research and Merck pledged technology, training and materials to accelerate India’s first chip fabs, offering advanced lithography, a 60,000-engineer skilling programme across 60 universities and high-purity chemicals to build a resilient local ecosystem.

Merck Electronics CEO and executive board member Kai Beckmann warned of “a multipolar world” with “significant uncertainties, disrupted supply chains, and a reshaped global technology landscape,” urging “more collaboration” as companies diversify and strengthen facilities.

Against that backdrop, India’s chip ambition is self-reliance built on capability at home: develop manufacturing and design to “secure its supply chains,” train talent at scale, and ensure materials readiness.

Semiconductor manufacturing company ASML CEO Christophe Fouquet framed semiconductors as “the critical enablers of the modern world” and said the company is ready to bring its lithography know-how to India’s first manufacturing lines.

“Our advanced lithography solution can help India’s path to achieve cutting-edge performance,” he said, adding that ASML aims to help build “an open ecosystem where ideas can flourish and innovation will only be limited by the imagination of our people.”

Lam Research CEO Tim Archer put talent and supply chain at the centre stage. He said Lam has enrolled “more than 60 universities” in India—working with the Indian Semiconductor Mission and the Indian Institute of Science—with “the goal of training 60,000 engineers over 10 years” through its Semiverse Solutions platform. “This is not just workforce development. This is ecosystem transformation,” Archer said.

He noted Lam’s 25-year presence in India, a local engineering centre that has expanded from services to development, and “good progress integrating India into our global supply chain ecosystem.”

Beckmann underscored materials readiness and collaboration. Chipmaking “relies on over 500 chemicals and 50 gases, often requiring electronic purity exceeding 99.999%,” he said, noting that advanced materials tap “up to two-thirds of the available elements on the periodic table.”

Merck, founded in 1668 and operating in India for 57 years with more than 4,500 employees across electronics, life science and healthcare, is positioning its materials and solutions to support new capacity. Beckmann pointed to momentum with “leading companies like Tata Electronics, Micron, Powerchip,” and added: “I am excited to learn that soon we will have the first made-in-India chip.

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These supply-chain commitments will help de-risk early ramps—by securing tool support, trained engineers and high-purity materials—and improve the odds that Dholera and Sanand move from construction to production on schedule.

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