India poised to become key player in global semiconductor business, says Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw

The government is positioning India as the centre of global industry and the first step is to make it a hub for semiconductor manufacturing, Union Minister of Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw said at SEMICON India 2022, which began in Bengaluru on Friday.

The three-day event is aimed at presenting India's semiconductor ambitions to the world, and Vaishnaw said 10,000 people attended the programme on the first day, with every major company being represented.

"Many serious players  have made India the cornerstone of their plans. We believe that India is a very important part of the (global) business plan — from a geopolitical calculation, it is obvious that India is at the centre," Vaishnaw said on Friday.

Vaishnaw said they have received applications under the Semiconductor India Programme and expect the process to take about 15-18 month to complete."There has been significant progress in the past four months across categories. We are on track as per that timeline; by April or May next year, we will have good news for the nation," Vaishnaw added.

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The minister said he expects to have in place concrete agreement for  a groundbreaking first fabrication unit in the country by April or May next year.

He said the biggest concern for the industry is the absence of a supply chain, and added that there are no concerns about power supply. "Quality of power supply is assured if the fabrication facility is near a 400 kilovolt power line. The Industry is comfortable about the power supply," Vaishnaw said, adding that the industry also has no qualms about processing ultra pure water, which is crucial to the process.

Vaishnaw further said the government has tied up with 100 institutions for talent acquisition. "Rs 76,000 crore is just the first step," the minister said, referring to the value of the incentive scheme the Centre announced last December as part of its "Make-in-India" semiconductor ambitions. "The timing of the second step is dependent on how we fare in the first step. We are seeing excellent response from states — big and medium industry houses, and design players are very keen on semiconductors," he added.

The minister further said  the nodal body of the Semiconductor India Programme, the Indian Semiconductor Mission, is up and running and that the government is close to finalising its chief executive officer.

Earlier in the day, during his inaugural address, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the country has the appetite for "technology and risk-taking" and emphasised that hard work has been done over the last few years to create an environment that encourages growth.

"India's own consumption of semiconductors is expected to cost $80 billion by 2026 and $110 billion by 2030," he noted.

Modi said the country has an exceptional semiconductor design talent pool, which makes up for up to 20 percent of the world's semiconductor design engineers. "It is our collective aim to establish India as one of the key partners in global semiconductor supply chains. We want to work on the principle of high-tech, high quality and high reliability," Modi said.