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Science and Technology › IPR and science policy
Also: Economy › Industry and manufacturing
1 Sep 2026
Semicon 2.0 notified: a ₹1,27,500 crore chip programme that puts design first
The Centre notified the framework of Semicon 2.0, the second phase of the Semicon India Programme. With ₹1,27,500 crore under the India Semiconductor Mission, it widens the first phase's focus on chip factories to design, equipment, materials, advanced packaging, research and talent.
UPSC has asked
Prelims 2026: semiconductor plants in India and their locations
How a chip is made
Design
Engineers design the chip, creating its intellectual property (IP)
↓→
Fabrication
Circuits built on silicon wafers in a fab
↓→
ATMP/OSAT
Wafers assembled, tested and packaged into finished chips
From The Indian Express, 1 September 2026
India has many chip design engineers, but most work for multinational companies, so the designs and intellectual property belong elsewhere.
Semicon 2.0 puts design first to turn that talent into Indian owned fabless companies.
The three chip design tracks
Strategic chips
For national security and critical infrastructure
Government names the IP and chips it wants
C-DAC selects developers by bidding
IP jointly owned by company and C-DAC
Commercial fabless firms
Seed funding up to ₹15 crore or 50% of cost
Electronic design automation tools and multi-project wafer runs
Royalty financing for larger firms
Open to firms owned by OCIs
Deployment linked incentive
9% of net sales for five years on new Indian chips
Share of eligible cost; from The Indian Express, 1 and 2 September 2026, and The Hindu, 31 August 2026
Every rate is below the uniform 50 per cent capital subsidy of the first phase.
The first phase so far
Begun in 2021, the first phase approved 12 projects across six States, including Micron's assembly and test plant and a Tata Electronics wafer fab built with Taiwan's PSMC.
Micron, Kaynes Semicon and CG Semi have started commercial production.
For the exam
Prelims: the outlay, the support rates, C-DAC's role, and the terms fabless, foundry, ATMP/OSAT and compound semiconductor.
Mains, GS3: whether a design first strategy suits India's design talent, and whether lower subsidies will still attract fabs.
Mains, GS3: Indian owned IP for chips in critical infrastructure as supply chain security, and opening the commercial track to Overseas Citizens of India.
ISRO privatisation row: what Indian Space Policy 2023 assigns to ISRO, IN-SPACe and NSIL
ISRO's employee associations asked the ISRO chairman whether ISRO would stop building launch vehicles and routine satellites, as the IN-SPACe chairman had suggested. IN-SPACe and ISRO both denied any privatisation.
UPSC has asked
Prelims 2026: private entities in the space programme, including IN-SPACe
Who does what under Indian Space Policy 2023
Indian Space Policy 2023
ISRO
Research and new technologies
Share technology with industry
Human spaceflight roadmap
Move out of manufacturing operational systems
IN-SPACe
Authorise launches, satellites, ground stations
Promote and hand hold industry
Open access to government facilities
NSIL
Commercialise publicly developed technology
Commercial launches for Indian and foreign clients
Non-governmental entities
End to end space activities
Build and operate satellites and ground assets
From The Indian Express explainer, 14 September 2026.
ISRO's answer
ISRO called the reforms ecosystem expansion, not privatisation, with industry or PSUs producing mature launch vehicles and routine satellites through competitive processes.
ISRO keeps frontier research, human spaceflight, next generation launchers, deep space missions and strategic capabilities.
Its targets include the Bharatiya Antariksh Station by 2035 and a crewed Moon mission by 2040.
The dispute is over pace and what ISRO keeps, not over the policy, which set this direction in 2023.
Technology transfer so far
SSLV
Built with industry in mind
Assembled in about 3 days
Technology transferred to HAL in 2025 for ₹511 crore
PSLV
Assembled in about 70 days
HAL and L&T consortium building five
Fresh call for its technology in 2026
LVM3
2024 attempt to commercialise never awarded
New call in 2026
From The Indian Express, 6 and 14 September 2026, and Frontline, 29 August 2026.
IN-SPACe has invited private operators to run the small satellite launch complex at Kulasekarapattinam, Thoothukudi district, Tamil Nadu, raising questions of safety, liability and parliamentary accountability.
The two sides
The case for scale
Space economy about $8.4 billion, aiming for $44 billion by 2033
Over 450 space startups, against a handful in 2020
India's share of the global space economy under 2%
Almost 80% of ISRO's budget already goes to industry
The staff's worries
Vacant posts and scientists leaving
Transfer of publicly funded technology
Lost revenue from stepping away from commercial launches
From The Indian Express, 6, 7 and 9 September 2026, and Frontline, 29 August 2026.
For the exam
Mains, GS3: a research agency plus a commercial launch market, weighing scale and jobs against lost revenue, talent drain and reliance on private launchers for strategic satellites.
Mains, GS2: accountability to Parliament and the CAG when private firms run public assets.
Nepal's flood puts Himalayan hydropower and the cumulative impact assessment of river basins under scrutiny
The 26 August flood in Nepal destroyed two hydropower projects and damaged at least 13 under construction. Climate change was a likely trigger, but experts blame the scale of damage on projects that ignore the region's vulnerabilities.
Gaps and lessons
Gaps in Nepal
Over 36 projects in the Upper Trishuli basin
Cumulative Impact Assessment ignored the Tibetan catchment and GLOFs
No climate resilience assessment
No early warning or working emergency action plans
Lessons for India
Independent review of all dams and hydropower projects
Emergency action plans made public
Real time sensors alerting downstream communities
A land use policy for vulnerable locations, which India lacks
From The Indian Express and Frontline, 30 August to 7 September 2026
The debate
Critics
Basin wide assessment that looks upstream across borders
Independent panel review after every disaster
World Commission on Dams guidelines as the frame
Builders
Proper risk and catchment assessment, not a halt to hydropower
Stricter rules against building close to rivers
Safety factors in design
From Frontline and The Indian Express, 30 August to 7 September 2026
Next phase of PM-KUSUM to carry a dedicated agrivoltaics component
On 9 September the Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy said the next phase of PM-KUSUM will have a dedicated agrivoltaics component, and that PM-KUSUM 2.0 is likely to be announced shortly.
UPSC has asked
Prelims 2020: solar water pumps
The agrivoltaics component
Agrivoltaics under PM-KUSUM
Why
India has about 18 per cent of the world's population on 2.4 per cent of its land
Ground mounted solar farms compete with food for land
Who
Small and marginal farmers
Farmer Producer Organisations, cooperatives and panchayats
Three incomes from one acre
The crop sold
Power sold to the DISCOM
Money saved on diesel
Design
Panel height, spacing and tracking must suit each crop, climate and region
From the PIB release and The Hindu, 9 September 2026
Land ownership stays with the farmer.
PM-KUSUM so far
About 29 lakhAgricultural pumps solarised
7.6 GWDecentralised solar added under PM-KUSUM
From the PIB release and The Hindu, 9 September 2026; capacity figures are for last year.
The Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan, launched in 2019, supports decentralised solar plants, standalone solar pumps and the solarisation of grid connected agricultural pumps.
Coal gasification scheme: first round draws seven applications after a 'no takers' row
Round 1 of the ₹37,500 crore Scheme for Promotion of Surface Coal/Lignite Gasification Projects drew seven applications, the Ministry of Coal said on 8 September.
UPSC has asked
Prelims 2025: what coal gasification technology can produce
The science
Coal or lignite
Domestic coal or lignite as feedstock
↓→
Surface gasification
Partial oxidation with oxygen and steam at high temperature and pressure
↓→
Syngas
Mainly carbon monoxide and hydrogen
↓→
Products
Synthetic natural gas, methanol, ammonia and urea, hydrogen, direct reduced iron
From the PIB release of 8 September 2026 and The Indian Express, 11 September 2026
Coal gasification is thermochemical, not biochemical.
The scheme supports surface gasification of mined coal in a reactor above ground, not underground gasification of coal within the seam.
The scheme
₹37,500 croreOutlay, approved by the Cabinet in May 2026
100 MT by 2030National Coal Gasification Mission target, 75 MT of it under this scheme
From the PIB release, 8 September 2026
Why it matters
It aims at import substitution of LNG, urea, ammonia and methanol, worth about ₹2.77 lakh crore in 2024–25.
Gasification is not low carbon, though its concentrated carbon dioxide stream is easier to capture than a power plant's flue gas.
Private nuclear developers seek green status so projects can tap green bonds and loans
Private nuclear developers asked NITI Aayog for green energy status, so projects can tap green bonds, green loans and blended finance. India opened civil nuclear power to private players in 2025 and targets 100 GWe by 2047, needing at least 228 billion dollars.
What industry wants
Industry wants the Sovereign Green Bond Framework, which excludes nuclear, reviewed with the RBI's green deposits and SEBI's green debt securities frameworks.
The World Bank and the Asian Development Bank are reviewing their limits on nuclear investment.
The hurdles
The Central Electricity Authority flagged pending SHANTI Act rules, long gestation, site selection and scarce skilled manpower.
The debate
For green status
Almost no carbon emitted while generating
Steady baseload power alongside solar and wind
Cheap long term capital for a costly 100 GWe target
Against
Radioactive waste and accident risk unresolved
Long construction times and cost overruns
A wider label may dilute investor trust in green instruments
Middle path
Treat nuclear as low carbon or transition finance
Strict safety, waste and disclosure conditions
Industry's case from The Indian Express, 2 September 2026; the arguments against and the middle path are the standard ones in the green finance debate
India the largest vaccine producer by volume, bioeconomy at USD 195.3 billion: figures from the CEPI meeting
At a New Delhi meeting of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), India said it is the world's largest vaccine producer and supplier by volume. India is a founding member of CEPI.
UPSC has asked
Prelims 2022: COVID-19 vaccine platforms, including Covishield
India in numbers
100+countries supplied with Indian vaccines
~60%of global vaccine production
65%+of WHO's routine immunisation requirements
USD 195.3 bnbioeconomy in 2025, up 18 per cent
From the PIB release, 13 September 2026
CEPI and Ind-CEPI
CEPI, launched in 2017, funds vaccines against emerging epidemic threats so that candidates are ready before an outbreak.
The Ind-CEPI Mission, implemented by BRIC-THSTI and BIRAC, delivered GEMCOVAC-19, India's first mRNA COVID-19 vaccine.
Covishield is a viral vector vaccine, not an mRNA vaccine.
Proposed Small Hydro Power Development Scheme targets about 1,500 MW by 2030-31
The government has proposed a Small Hydro Power Development Scheme for 2026-27 to 2030-31, with an outlay of ₹2,584.60 crore and a target of about 1,500 MW of new capacity.
Potential and target
25 MWLargest size of a project classed as Small Hydro Power in India
21 GWAssessed small hydro potential, at more than 7,100 sites
5.2 GWHarnessed so far
200Projects to get Detailed Project Reports
From the PIB release, 10 September 2026
The scheme will incentivise States to prepare Detailed Project Reports, building a pipeline of projects.
Benefits and barriers
Why small hydro
Run of river designs need relatively little land
No large scale submergence or displacement
Power close to where it is used, in remote terrain
The barriers
Long lead times
Delays in forest, environment and right of way clearances
Hard to finance, so the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency was urged to bring in long term patient capital
From the PIB release, 10 September 2026
Context
India has crossed 300 GW of installed non fossil fuel capacity.
India can cut steel emissions by choosing cleaner furnaces before new coal based plants lock them in
A study in Nature Climate Change finds that building electric arc furnaces instead of new coal based blast furnaces, and not relining young ones, could almost halve the world's committed steel emissions.
Two routes
BF-BOF route
Blast furnace: coking coal strips oxygen from iron ore
Basic oxygen furnace: pure oxygen refines the carbon rich iron
70.4% of global steelmaking
Electric arc furnace
Melts scrap or direct reduced iron (DRI) with electricity
Less than half the emissions intensity
DRI made with green hydrogen and clean power: close to zero
India has little old steel to recycle, so DRI in electric arc furnaces, not scrap, is its best option
From The Hindu, 8 September 2026
India's steel
BF-BOF43%
Induction furnaces35%
Electric arc furnaces22%
Share of crude steel by route, from The Hindu, 8 September 2026
India's steel emissions are about 32 per cent above the global average.
Carbon lock-in
56% by 2030Projected BF-BOF share, though most planned plants have not broken ground
Over 43 million t a yearIndian capacity due for relining before 2030, adding 15 to 20 years of life
2.2 t CO2ePer tonne of crude steel, the ceiling for green steel under the National Mission on Green Steel
Nearly 12%Steel's share of India's greenhouse gas emissions
From The Hindu, 8 September 2026
New BF-BOF plants could become stranded assets, like thermal power plants.
Amended e-commerce rules require a yearly dark patterns audit and honest discounts from 2027
Amendments to the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020, from 1 January 2027, make platforms certify their own designs every year instead of answering only when caught.
Dark patterns
The Central Consumer Protection Authority issued guidelines on them in 2023.
They name false urgency, basket sneaking, confirm shaming, subscription traps and drip pricing.
What platforms must do
Amended e-commerce rules
Design
Comply with the 2023 dark patterns guidelines
Yearly self audit and certificate of compliance
Search
No manipulation to mislead
Clearly disclose sponsored listings
Discounts
Show the reduced and the prior price
Prior price is the lowest in the previous 30 days
Imports and fees
Disclose importer and country of origin
No bundled fees for unrelated services
Grievances
Join the National Consumer Helpline convergence process
Science and Technology › Materials and nanotechnology
Also: Economy › Industry and manufacturing
9 Sep 2026Prelims focus
TDB funds commercial 3D printing of patient specific calcium phosphate bone grafts
UPSC has asked
Prelims 2018: applications of 3D printing
The news
The Technology Development Board (TDB) is funding commercial 3D printing, or additive manufacturing, of patient specific calcium phosphate bone grafts.
What Prelims tests
Hydroxyapatite, the calcium phosphate mineral of most bone and tooth enamel, and beta-tricalcium phosphate are bioceramics used in grafts.
The TDB is a statutory body under the Technology Development Board Act, 1995.
Two printing routes
Digital Light Processing (DLP)
Cures a light sensitive material one whole layer at a time with a projected image
Extrusion
Pushes a paste through a nozzle to trace each layer
Bamboo backgrounder: the 2017 forest law change and the rise of engineered bamboo
UPSC has asked
Prelims 2019: bamboo under the Indian Forest Act and the Forest Rights Act
The law
Bamboo is botanically a grass, not a tree.
In 2017 bamboo was removed from the definition of a tree under the Indian Forest Act, 1927, so bamboo on non forest land needs no permit to fell or transport.
Bamboo in forest areas remains regulated.
Under the Forest Rights Act, 2006, bamboo is a minor forest produce owned by forest dwellers.
From craft to enterprise
Bamboo enterprise
NECTAR
North East Centre for Technology Application & Reach
Engineered bamboo
Bamboo fibres, strips or particles, bound and compressed
9 Prelims and 2 Mains questions, on the most important items above.
Prelims
Q1
With reference to Semicon 2.0, the second phase of the Semicon India Programme, consider the following statements:
1.It is run under the India Semiconductor Mission with an outlay of ₹1,27,500 crore.
2.Silicon wafer fabs receive a higher rate of capital support under it than under the first phase.
3.Under its strategic chip track, the intellectual property is jointly owned by the selected company and C-DAC.
4.A fabless company designs chips but outsources their manufacture to a foundry.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
(a)1 and 2 only
(b)2 and 4 only
(c)1, 2 and 3 only
(d)1, 3 and 4 onlyAnswer
Show answer and explanationHide answer and explanation
Statements 1, 3 and 4 are correct. Statement 2 is wrong: silicon wafer fabs now get 40 per cent, below the uniform 50 per cent capital subsidy of the first phase.
With reference to India's space sector, consider the following statements:
1.IN-SPACe is an autonomous agency under the Department of Space that authorises and promotes private space activity.
2.NSIL is a public sector undertaking that serves as ISRO's commercial arm.
3.Indian Space Policy 2023 asks ISRO to expand its manufacturing of operational space systems.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
(a)1 and 2 onlyAnswer
(b)2 and 3 only
(c)1 and 3 only
(d)1, 2 and 3
Show answer and explanationHide answer and explanation
Statements 1 and 2 are correct. Statement 3 is wrong: the policy asks ISRO to move out of manufacturing operational space systems and concentrate on research.
With reference to coal gasification, consider the following statements:
1.It is a biochemical process in which microbes break coal down into gas.
2.The syngas it produces is mainly a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen.
3.Syngas can be used to make urea and to produce direct reduced iron.
4.The Scheme for Promotion of Surface Coal/Lignite Gasification Projects supports gasifying coal in place within the seam.
How many of the statements given above are correct?
(a)Only one
(b)Only twoAnswer
(c)Only three
(d)All four
Show answer and explanationHide answer and explanation
Statements 2 and 3 are correct. Statement 1 is wrong: coal gasification is thermochemical, partial oxidation at high temperature and pressure. Statement 4 is wrong: the scheme supports surface gasification of mined coal in a reactor above ground, not underground gasification within the seam.
With reference to data centres in India, consider the following statements:
1.Power Usage Effectiveness is the total electricity used by a data centre divided by the electricity used by its IT equipment.
2.Data centres have been given infrastructure status through the Harmonised List of Infrastructure.
3.The SHANTI Act provides for solar parks dedicated to supplying data centres.
How many of the statements given above are correct?
(a)Only one
(b)Only twoAnswer
(c)All three
(d)None
Show answer and explanationHide answer and explanation
Statements 1 and 2 are correct. Statement 3 is wrong: the SHANTI Act concerns nuclear energy, enabling future Small Modular Reactors to supply AI and data centres.
1.In the Pichavaram mangroves, vegetation stores more carbon per hectare than the sediments.
2.Natural Capital Accounting records the depletion of natural assets, which GDP does not capture.
3.In MoSPI's proposed method for valuing marine fish stocks, future resource rents are discounted to present value.
How many of the statements given above are correct?
(a)Only one
(b)Only twoAnswer
(c)All three
(d)None
Show answer and explanationHide answer and explanation
Statements 2 and 3 are correct. Statement 1 is wrong: the sediments hold about 251 tonnes of carbon per hectare against about 79 tonnes in the vegetation.
Semicon 2.0 places chip design ahead of fabrication. Examine the rationale for this design first approach and discuss its significance for India's semiconductor supply chain security.
Indian Space Policy 2023 asks ISRO to move out of manufacturing operational space systems and leave production to industry. Critically analyse the benefits and risks of this shift for India's space programme.
Q1 (d) Statements 1, 3 and 4 are correct. Statement 2 is wrong: silicon wafer fabs now get 40 per cent, below the uniform 50 per cent capital subsidy of the first phase.
Q2 (a) Statements 1 and 2 are correct. Statement 3 is wrong: the policy asks ISRO to move out of manufacturing operational space systems and concentrate on research.
Q3 (d) Statements 1 and 2 are correct. Statement 3 is wrong: under the agrivoltaics component, land ownership stays with the farmer.
Q4 (b) Statements 2 and 3 are correct. Statement 1 is wrong: coal gasification is thermochemical, partial oxidation at high temperature and pressure. Statement 4 is wrong: the scheme supports surface gasification of mined coal in a reactor above ground, not underground gasification within the seam.
Q5 (b) Statements 1 and 2 are correct. Statement 3 is wrong: the SHANTI Act concerns nuclear energy, enabling future Small Modular Reactors to supply AI and data centres.
Q6 (b) Statements 2 and 3 are correct. Statement 1 is wrong: the sediments hold about 251 tonnes of carbon per hectare against about 79 tonnes in the vegetation.
Q7 (a) Statements 1 and 3 are correct. Statement 2 is wrong: Covishield is a viral vector vaccine, not an mRNA vaccine.
Q8 (b) Statements 1 and 3 are correct. Statement 2 is wrong: only about 5.2 GW of an assessed potential of about 21 GW has been harnessed.
Q9 (a) Statements 1 and 3 are correct. Statement 2 is wrong: biofloc microbes clean the water within the pond, so little or no water needs to be exchanged.