Technology India 2035: Deep Tech, Semiconductors, Space, and the Audacious Bet India Is Making

There is a version of India 2035 that looks like a continuation of what came before: a larger, more sophisticated IT services industry, more GCCs, more unicorns, more revenue per employee. That version is entirely plausible and would represent a genuine achievement.

But there is another version — the one that India's most ambitious policymakers, scientists, and entrepreneurs are betting on — where India in 2035 is a deep technology exporter, a space superpower, a quantum computing research node, and a semiconductor manufacturing hub. This version requires India to build capabilities it has never had: world-class manufacturing process discipline, long-duration research investment, and the ability to commercialise scientific achievement at scale. It is harder. It is riskier. And if it succeeds even partially, it will be one of the most consequential industrial achievements of the 21st century.

Semiconductors: India's 20-Year Gamble

Semiconductors are the oxygen of the modern economy. Every AI model, every electric vehicle, every smart phone, every defence system runs on chips. Global chip revenues exceeded $550 billion in 2023, and the AI-driven demand surge is projected to push that figure past $1 trillion by 2030.

India's participation in this market has historically been limited to chip design (India accounts for roughly 20% of the world's VLSI design engineers) and semiconductor equipment distribution. The ₹76,000 crore India Semiconductor Mission, launched in 2021 and substantially reinforced in Union Budgets 2023 and 2024, aims to change that.

The first concrete milestone is the Tata Electronics-PSMC 28nm semiconductor fab in Dholera, Gujarat — a joint venture with Taiwan's Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation. The facility, expected to be operational by 2026–27, will have a capacity of approximately 50,000 wafers per month and represents an investment of approximately ₹91,000 crore. Complementing this is the CG Power-Renesas-Stars Microelectronics ATMP facility in Sanand, Gujarat, and Micron Technology's $2.75 billion ATMP investment, also in Sanand.

These are 28nm facilities, not 3nm cutting-edge nodes. But semiconductor strategy is generational. Samsung's first fab in the 1980s was not world-class by global standards either. What matters is that India is beginning to build the physical infrastructure, the engineering talent, the supply chain ecosystem, and the institutional knowledge that semiconductor manufacturing requires. The 2035 vision is not a leading-edge fab — it is a thriving semiconductor ecosystem with 5–10 facilities across design, ATMP, and mature-node manufacturing, employing hundreds of thousands of skilled engineers.

The leadership challenge: India has an acute shortage of semiconductor process engineers, fab operations managers, and yield improvement specialists. The entire global talent pool for advanced semiconductor manufacturing is small; India's domestic pool is smaller still. Building it will require targeted university programmes, international talent acquisition, and — critically — the ability to retain this talent in India rather than losing it to TSMC, Intel, and Samsung.

Space: From National Programme to Commercial Ecosystem

ISRO is one of India's great institutional achievements — a world-class space agency built on a fraction of NASA's budget, delivering missions including Chandrayaan-3 (which successfully landed near the lunar south pole in August 2023, making India the first country to do so) and Aditya-L1 (India's first solar observatory mission). The cost-effectiveness of ISRO's programme — Chandrayaan-3 cost approximately ₹615 crore, less than the budget of many Hollywood films — is justifiably celebrated.

But ISRO's commercial future is more consequential than its scientific achievements. The establishment of IN-SPACe (Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre) and the commercialisation of launch services through NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) have opened India's space economy to private enterprise. The results have been striking: India's space startup ecosystem grew from approximately 1 company in 2012 to over 100 companies by 2024.

Skyroot Aerospace successfully launched India's first private rocket, Vikram-S, in November 2022. AgniKul Cosmos launched the world's first rocket with a single-piece 3D-printed engine in May 2024. Pixxel is building a constellation of high-resolution hyperspectral imaging satellites. Dhruva Space and GalaxEye are building satellite communication and Earth observation capabilities respectively.

The global satellite launch market is projected at $47 billion by 2030. India's cost advantage in launch services — ISRO's PSLV launches at roughly $5,000 per kilogram to LEO, compared to $10,000+ for many Western competitors — positions it well. The commercial space economy, encompassing launch, Earth observation, satellite communications, and space-based data services, could contribute $44 billion to India's GDP by 2033 according to an EY-ISpA estimate.

Quantum Computing: The Long Game

India's National Quantum Mission, approved in April 2023 with a ₹6,003 crore outlay over eight years, is a statement of intent rather than a declaration of capability. Quantum computing is still largely in the research phase globally — IBM's most advanced quantum computer has 1,000+ qubits but remains far from fault-tolerant, practical quantum advantage. India's mission is correctly timed: it allows India to build research capability during the pre-commercial phase rather than scrambling to acquire it once commercial quantum advantage is demonstrated.

The mission funds four National Quantum Computing Missions research hubs: at IIT Bombay (focusing on quantum computing hardware), IISc Bengaluru (quantum communication and networking), IIT Madras (quantum sensing and metrology), and TIFR Mumbai (quantum materials and algorithms). The ambition is to achieve intermediate-scale quantum computers with 50–100 physical qubits within three years and 1,000+ qubit systems within eight years.

The commercial implications of quantum computing for India are concentrated in three areas: cryptography and cybersecurity (quantum computers will eventually break current encryption standards — every bank, defence system, and enterprise must prepare), drug discovery and materials science (quantum simulation of molecular behaviour promises to accelerate pharmaceutical and materials R&D enormously), and financial optimisation (portfolio optimisation, risk modelling, and derivatives pricing are natural quantum computing applications for India's growing financial services sector).

6G and the Connectivity Ambition

India launched its first 5G services in October 2022 and achieved 100 million 5G connections by early 2024 — one of the fastest 5G adoption curves globally, driven by Jio and Airtel's competitive network buildout. Even as 5G rollout continues, the government and academia are already investing in 6G research through the Bharat 6G Alliance and the Department of Telecommunications' 6G R&D programme.

The strategic imperative here is not speed or bandwidth — it is standards-setting. The nation that defines 6G standards will earn royalties and first-mover advantage in a technology that will govern global connectivity for the 2030–2045 period. China has been the most aggressive standards participant in 5G; India is determined to be a co-architect of 6G rather than a passive adopter.

India's 6G R&D roadmap includes native AI integration into the network layer (AI-native air interfaces), terahertz spectrum research, ultra-low latency for industrial IoT, and integrated terrestrial-satellite networks. The partnership between IIT Delhi, IIT Madras, IIT Bombay, and CDOT (Centre for Development of Telematics) forms the research backbone.

What This Means for the Leaders of 2035

The India 2035 technology vision demands a new category of leader that does not yet exist in large numbers: the Deep Tech Executive — someone who understands the technical fundamentals of semiconductors, quantum systems, or space technology well enough to make strategic decisions; has the commercial orientation to build businesses around early-stage technology; and has the patience to operate on the long time horizons that deep tech requires.

This is not the profile of a conventional technology executive. Most senior technology leaders in India have been shaped by the services industry, with its quarterly revenue rhythms and client-driven priorities. Deep tech requires a tolerance for multi-year investment cycles with uncertain outcomes, a comfort with government partnership and policy navigation, and a willingness to accept that commercial returns may be five to ten years out.

At Gladwin International, we are already encountering mandates that require this profile — boards of semiconductor startups looking for heads of manufacturing operations, space companies seeking CEOs who can bridge the worlds of aerospace engineering and venture-scale growth, quantum computing ventures that need leaders who can translate esoteric physics into commercial roadmaps. These are among the most demanding executive search mandates we have ever undertaken, and they are a preview of the leadership market India will face in 2030. Preparing for that market — building the pipeline of deep tech executives — must begin now.