India to play the key role in developing semiconductors

Chips are like oil, Semiconductors are playing a key role in the advancement of emerging technologies like AI, Internet of Things (IoT), autonomous vehicles, 5G, robotics and many more new age technologies. PM Modi said India has undertaken wide-ranging reforms to improve the ease of doing business. He said the country has an exceptional semiconductor design talent pool, comprising up to 20% of the world’s chip design engineers. Its own consumption of semiconductors is expected to cross $80 billion by 2026 and $110 billion in 2030. India is going to provide support for companies looking to invest in semiconductor manufacturing. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said as the South Asian nations set its sights on becoming a key player in the global supply chain for chips.

Even as more firms and countries seek to ensure access to the chips at the core of critical technologies such as 5G and others of the future, the bulk of the world’s chip output is limited to places such as Taiwan and the United States. The Indian semiconductor market, worth $15 billion in 2020, is estimated to reach $63 billion by 2026, the government says. A $10-billion plan to attract semiconductor and display makers has drawn applications from companies such as a joint venture between Indian conglomerate Vedanta and Taiwan’s Foxconn, and Singapore’s IGSS Ventures. As part of the government’s efforts to attract big-ticket investments, the three-day meeting has drawn executives of tech giants Intel, TSMC, and Micron Technology Inc. In the race to become India’s first chip maker, Vedanta is seeking incentives such as 1,000 acres (405 hectares) of free land, as part of its $20-billion foray into semiconductors and displays.

Recently, there was an announcement from ISMC for an investment of Rs. 22,900 crores ($3 billion) in a 65nm Analog Semiconductor Fabrication plant in Karnataka. The ISMC has requested 150 acres of land in Mysuru’s Kochanahalli Industrial area. This will be one of India’s first and largest semiconductor fabrication units under the Central Government’s Indian Semiconductor Mission upon project approval by the Government of India. The project is expected to generate more than 1500 direct and 10,000 indirect employment opportunities and ancillary semiconductor ecosystem industry development in the area with significant multiplier effects.

Prime Minister Modi said, India has undertaken wide-ranging reforms to improve the ease of doing business. India will need at least 10 semiconductor fabrication models within the coming years and the federal government is able to spend money on a number of extra tasks, stated Minister of Electronics and IT Ashwini Vaishnaw. Chips are vital for each strategic and business cause. The minister has outlined that the authorities have already acquired about 5 proposals to arrange fabs. The ministry can be reaching out to bigger corporations like Intel, TSMC and Samsung. Vaishnaw further said, It’s a primary ingredient as we speak in a digital economic system. If you do not have semiconductors, how will you survive?

The present geopolitical circumstances necessitate that India develops the ecosystem for the semiconductor manufacturing in the country and Karnataka is well poised to take advantage of that because of its robust ecosystem in the electronic chip design industry. The manufacturing facilities will only add to the growth of the sector.

S Mohini Ratna, Editor, VARINDIA