On the 79th Independence Day, a heated political clash unfolded as the Congress party sharply rebutted Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s claim that the idea of semiconductor manufacturing in India was stifled 50-60 years ago. In his address from the Red Fort, PM Modi suggested that early efforts to establish a semiconductor industry were “killed in the womb,” leading to decades of lost progress. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh called the statement a distortion of history, pointing out that the Semiconductors Complex Limited (SCL) in Chandigarh began operations in 1983, a significant milestone in India’s technological journey.

PM Modi, in his speech, celebrated India’s renewed push for semiconductor manufacturing, announcing that the first “Made-in-India” semiconductor chips, produced by Indian talent, will hit the market by year-end. He emphasized a “mission mode” approach, with six semiconductor units under development, four of which have received approval, including projects in Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, and Punjab with a combined investment of Rs 4,600 crore. “We lost 50-60 years,” PM Modi claimed, attributing past failures to unspecified governments while insisting he wasn’t criticizing them, but informing the youth.

Ramesh, Congress’s communications chief, took to X, labeling PM Modi a “pathological liar” and highlighting SCL’s 1983 start as evidence of early progress under Congress-led governments. Established in 1984, SCL was a pioneering effort, predating Taiwan’s TSMC by three years, though it faced setbacks like a 1989 fire and underinvestment. Ramesh also accused the BJP of bias, alleging that semiconductor projects were redirected from opposition-ruled states like Telangana and Tamil Nadu to BJP-ruled Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh, undermining fair competition.

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The exchange reflects broader tensions, with Congress framing PM Modi’s narrative as an attempt to erase its contributions to India’s tech sector. Posts on X echoed this, with some users decrying PM Modi’s historical revisionism, while others praised his vision for self-reliance. As India aims to capture a slice of the $100-110 billion semiconductor market by 2030, the debate over its past and future in chipmaking underscores a deeply polarized political landscape.

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