NITI Aayog calls for a national programme to develop 2D Materials

NITI Aayog has called for urgent interventions in the two-dimensional material (2D Materials), including a dedicated national programme, to help India achieve self-reliance in chips, sensors, and quantum technologies while taking a lead on the global front.

In its fourth edition of the Future Front Quarterly Insights series, titled “Introduction to 2D Materials”, developed in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, the Aayog calls for building a resilient innovation ecosystem, self-reliance in critical material access, and strategic international partnerships for India to leap-frog in technological advancements.

For the economies investing early, the payoff goes beyond product exports to include energy savings, IP ownership, and strategic independence as silicon scaling approaches its physical limit, the Aayog said, cautioning that the cost of inaction is not just economic but strategic.


“It is of utmost importance for India to launch a dedicated national program for these technologies with a 10 year strategic roadmap to build end to end capabilities along the value chain,” it said.

“With a strong focused effort that aligns talent, research, infrastructure, and policy, we have the opportunity to leapfrog into the global 2D materials race and avoid being locked out of future high value semiconductors and quantum stacks,” it added.

According to the Aayog, 2D Materials represents a pathway for India to capture a share of a multi-trillion-dollar global industry while strengthening defence, AI, and energy security.

Besides, it has proposed convergence of semiconductor policy and 2D materials research for comprehensive technological advancement to help India leapfrog into the post-silicon semiconductor race.

2D materials are crystalline substances with a thickness of one to a few atomic layers, typically less than 1 nanometer (nm). Their atomically thin structure, extending in two dimensions with minimal thickness in the third, imparts unique electronic, optical, and mechanical properties compared to their 3D counterparts and can be integral to the next-generation semiconductors, memory, quantum devices, flexible electronics, and energy systems.

The Aayog is of the view that while India has the talent and growing semiconductor ambitions, its efforts in monolayer-to-few layer 2D materials-based technology development is still at a very nascent stage.

“Current research is largely focused on materials synthesis and basic device characterisation, with limited work on wafer-scale integration, heterostructure engineering, and deployable device prototypes,” it said.

Countries like the U.S., South Korea, and China have already started integrating 2D semiconductors into their next-generation chip and quantum computing roadmaps.