West Bengal is set for a technological revolution in Durgapur, as the steel-and-coal hub could transform into the state’s ‘Silicon Valley’ by tapping central funds to establish the it’s first microchip manufacturing hub.
State Finance Minister Swapan Dasgupta has laid the roadmap for the proposed technological hub which is set to accommodate new IT Parks, Artificial Intelligence units, hyper-scale data centres to woo fresh investments in the days ahead.
A semiconductor industrial hub is a cluster of facilities, research labs, and logistic infrastructure built around chip design and manufacturing. In such hubs, silicon wafers are turned into microchips, which helps in creating high-value jobs for engineers, technicians and scientists.
The Centre has earlier promoted such hubs in Dholera and Sanand in Gujarat and in Bengaluru.
Technocrats like the Director of Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute (CMERI), Durgapur and the Director of National Institute of Technology (NIT), Durgapur have expressed high ambition for the semiconductor hub.
Speaking to The Statesman, N C Murmu, the Director of CMERI said, “The budget announcement for a semiconductor hub here is a highly encouraging step towards strengthening the state’s advanced manufacturing and technology ecosystem.”
“It reflects a forward-looking vision that can position Durgapur as a key hub for innovation, skilled jobs and industrial growth where our laboratory may contribute through research and tech-supports,” he added.
Durgapur, which has conventionally been a hub for iron and steel, coal, mining gear, fertilizer and ophthalmic glass PSUs is currently battling global slowdowns. It has five industrial estates managed by the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation accommodating many private factories, but no electronics equipment manufacturing plant as yet.
Though the industrial city never had a legacy of manufacturing semiconductors, it is a burgeoning hub for semiconductor research.
Students from NIT, Durgapur, in August 2025 had designed the country’s first indigenous microchip for long-range radio applications.
Arvind Choubey, Director, NIT, Durgapur said that the microchip ‘Asynchronous Fifo Vikram’ earned Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s praise in Delhi’s national expo in August 2025.
“We have prepared five microchips during the period which were shifted to Bangaluru for critical testing. The fresh budgetary allocation for a semiconductor unit here will help exploring fresh avenues for employment generation and dynamic research,” Choubey said.
“Many PSU giants here are struggling high to negotiate with the dull scenario in the international market. Such soft units, we expect, may help Durgapur dazzling further,” said Ratan Agarwal, President, Durgapur Small Industries Association.
In the early 2000s, the Centre had introduced a Software Technology Park in the Bidhannagar area of Durgapur.
In February 2026, the Union Budget announced an integrated East Coast Industrial Corridor with a well-connected node at Durgapur at an estimated cost of Rs 3,000 crore under the National Industrial Corridor Development and Implementation Trust.
“These initiatives will create new greenfield industrial areas and nodes structured to compete with premier manufacturing and investment destinations shortly,” Supriyo Ganguly, Advisor, North Durgapur Industrial Association said.