ASML, The Company Behind World's Most Advanced Chip Machines, Finds PM Modi More Accessible Than EU Leaders

Dutch semiconductor toolmaking giant ASML has lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s open and pro-business approach, citing a two-hour meeting between PM Modi and company CEO Christophe Fouquet, India Today reported.

At a Brussels business summit, ASML executive vice president Frank Heemskerk said meeting India’s leadership was easier than accessing senior European policymakers.

Heemskerk admitted that access to EU leaders, including Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, was “not always easy.”

He recalled that a former executive once quipped, “It’s easier to get a meeting in the White House with a senior official than to get a meeting with a [EU] commissioner.”

Heemskerk revealed ASML’s CEO Christophe Fouquet had a 2-hour meeting with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"After an hour and a half of listening, he [Modi] said, ‘You’re too friendly, tell me what we can do better," he said.

He suggested EU leaders follow Modi’s example: “Political leaders should sit down with the companies that are making the investments.”

On ASML’s €1.3 billion deal with French AI firm Mistral, he noted: “It’s easier since it’s a European company, we understand each other better.”

He clarified the tie-up was driven by Mistral’s industrial AI strength, not geopolitics.

The praise from the world’s leading semiconductor lithography machine manufacturer comes at a time when India is striving to establish itself as a hub in the global chipmaking supply chain.

In August, PM Modi was presented with Vikram—the first made-in-India semiconductor chip, developed by ISRO.

On Independence Day, he announced that the first Made in India chip would reach the market by year-end.

India has also committed significant policy and financial support to the sector.

The Centre launched the India Semiconductor Mission in 2021 with a budget of Rs 76,000 crore to promote semiconductor fabrication, display manufacturing, and chip design.

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