India's chip mission finds its footing as fabs break ground

The most direct beneficiaries are the 28,000 direct workers projected to be employed across the three approved sites — engineers, technicians, facilities staff — mostly in Gujarat and Assam. For Assam especially, where the Jagiroad OSAT is located, this anchors a major employer in a state with limited manufacturing history. Indian engineering colleges — particularly NITs and IITs — have seen a surge in semiconductor-related coursework enrolments since 2022; the pipeline of talent will take 5-8 years to feed the fabs meaningfully but is already changing what skills students prioritize. Supply-chain businesses — materials, chemicals, precision tooling, logistics — within 50 km of each site will benefit from supplier ecosystems that globally employ 5-10 times the workforce of the fab itself. The disruption falls on India's electronics import distributors and informal electronics repair ecosystems: as more components are domestically packaged and tested, the grey-market supply chain that has sustained affordable electronics servicing in India faces long-term erosion.