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India-US Trade Framework To Accelerate India’s Semiconductor, Data Centre Push: Pan IIT Alumni India
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Pan IIT Alumni India says the framework signals deeper cooperation in critical and emerging technologies at a time when India is expanding its manufacturing base and digital infra.

This framework strengthens India’s position as a trusted manufacturing and innovation partner under the evolving China+1 strategy, the chairman of Pan IIT Alumni India said.
The interim India-US trade framework could significantly speed up India’s ambitions in semiconductors, data centres and advanced technology manufacturing, Pan IIT Alumni India has said. It added that the Union Budget 2026-27 has provided complementary domestic support to leverage the agreement.
Welcoming the joint statement issued by New Delhi and Washington, Pan IIT Alumni India said the framework signals deeper cooperation in critical and emerging technologies at a time when India is expanding its manufacturing base and digital infrastructure.
“The trade framework and the Union Budget together reflect a clear strategic alignment. India is building domestic capacity while expanding global technology partnerships,” said Prabhat Kumar, chairman of Pan IIT Alumni India.
The alumni body said improved access to advanced components and technologies comes at a crucial moment as India pushes semiconductor fabrication, packaging and design through production-linked incentive schemes and related manufacturing programmes.
“Today, everything runs on chips — from data centres and telecom networks to electric vehicles and defence systems. Stronger engagement with the US can help India move faster from design to manufacturing and packaging, while reducing supply chain risks,” Kumar said.
Pan IIT Alumni India noted that the Union Budget has reinforced the domestic ecosystem by continuing support for semiconductor manufacturing and accelerating digital infrastructure expansion. It pointed in particular to the proposed tax holiday until 2047 for foreign cloud service providers using Indian data centre infrastructure, a move aimed at attracting long-term global investment.
According to the alumni body, the trade framework improves access to advanced technology and markets, while the Budget strengthens India’s internal capabilities, together creating momentum for sustained growth in advanced manufacturing and digital infrastructure.
It added that startups and MSMEs stand to benefit from smoother cross-border collaboration, improved access to capital and deeper integration into global value chains. India’s large base of IIT alumni working across US technology companies, research institutions and venture funds could play a key role in facilitating partnerships, mentoring and market access.
“From electronics and EV components to defence and aerospace, reliability matters. This framework strengthens India’s position as a trusted manufacturing and innovation partner under the evolving China+1 strategy,” Kumar said.
Pan IIT Alumni India said its global network is well placed to translate the policy momentum into tangible outcomes by facilitating connections between industry, academia and policymakers, and by supporting technology partnerships and cross-border investments.
February 08, 2026, 14:49 IST
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Target faces a new boycott over ICE response as retailer presses ahead with turnaround
A major teachers’ union is calling for its members to skip Target when buying back-to-school supplies, the latest twist in a series of boycotts that have targeted the big-box retailer as its turnaround shows signs of life, CNBC has learned.
The AFT, or American Federation of Teachers, passed a resolution Thursday that calls on its 1.8 million members and others to shop at local stores and not at Target, saying the company did not respond adequately to the surge of federal immigration enforcement in the retailer’s hometown of Minneapolis this winter. Federal agents shot and killed two U.S. citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, during the operation.
The labor union, which is affiliated with the AFL-CIO, plans to urge a similar resolution at AFL-CIO’s convention in Minneapolis this summer and at conventions held by other organizations, including the NAACP and LULAC, AFT President Randi Weingarten said.
Target declined to comment specifically on the AFT’s resolution but said in a statement that it has “a longstanding commitment to strengthening the communities we serve,” including donating 5% of profits since the company’s founding and offering a discount to educators as part of a teacher appreciation program.
Target’s annual sales have declined for the past three years in a row, but the company’s new CEO Michael Fiddelke laid out an ambitious plan earlier this month to refresh its stores, add more enticing merchandise and return to sales growth. The retailer said it expects net sales to rise about 2% this fiscal year compared with the prior year and anticipates sales will grow every quarter.
It is unclear if and how much the AFT’s call for a back-to-school boycott could hurt Target, which is trying to win back customers. Earlier this month, Atlanta area pastor Jamal Harrison Bryant announced the end of a yearlong boycott of the company, called Target Fast, which had started because of the company’s rollback of major diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
At a press conference, Bryant said Target has demonstrated its commitment to the Black community with investments in Black businesses and donations to Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Yet other activists leading a separate boycott, including former Ohio state Sen. Nina Turner, have said they continue to call for shoppers to steer clear of Target.
The AFT previously supported and participated in the Target boycott over its DEI rollback.
The retailer has attributed some of its sales losses to backlash to its DEI decision, along with other factors including company missteps with merchandise, a weaker store experience and softer discretionary spending.
At an investor meeting in Minneapolis in early March, Fiddelke stressed that it’s “a new chapter for Target.” He said the company is “doing the work to build connection with new guests, deepen relationships with existing guests and earn back trust with guests we’ve disappointed.”
In a separate email to Target employees earlier this month, Fiddelke highlighted how the retailer is putting its strategy into action, including through its move to cut prices on more than 3,000 items and the opening of its 2,000th store. He said Target has made progress with winning back trust, too, noting the end of the Target Fast boycott.
He said Target has had “ongoing conversations with the organizers” of the boycott, who have “acknowledged the meaningful contributions Target has made, and will continue to make, to the Black community.”
In an interview with CNBC, Weingarten said the AFT’s boycott is focused on what she called Target’s lack of response to the surge of aggressive and violent immigration enforcement in its own backyard. Weingarten said the AFT sent a letter to Target and met with Target staff to encourage them to speak up before the union moved to pass the resolution.
“Target was negotiating with our colleagues in the civil rights community for weeks and weeks and weeks,” she said. “They could have very easily dealt with both [concerns about DEI and immigration enforcement] and they chose not to.”
She said Target is “more worried about standing with the Trump administration than the communities that made them a profitable company.”
Fiddelke joined dozens of executives from Minnesota-based corporations in co-signing a letter in late January calling for an “immediate de-escalation” in the state after the fatal shooting of Pretti. However, the letter did not name the shooting victims Pretti or Good or call out the president, his immigration policies or federal agents.
Fiddelke also shared a video message with employees that more directly acknowledged current events, but stopped short of calling for ICE agents to leave the city or for accountability in the two shooting deaths.
Weingarten described the CEOs’ letter as “insulting” and said it “basically blamed both sides.”
She said the union, which includes many teachers, can have the greatest financial impact during the back-to-school shopping season this summer and fall. By passing the resolution now, she said, the AFT can get the word out to members and “give Target enough time to come back to its senses.”
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