The Minister of State for IT and Electronics, Rajeev Chandrasekhar in a statement has said that even though the government’s plan for boosting the semiconductor sector in India focuses on large investments due to geopolitical circumstances, the government is giving equal importance to design and innovation. Rajeev Chandrasekhar was speaking at the 35th International VLSI and Embedded Systems Conference where he talked about the fact how India’s performance during times of pandemic has placed the country among the experts in the technology space.
Growth of India’s Technology Sector
Speaking at the conference the minister stated that the government’s ambitions, particularly in the semiconductor sector, is very clear and the roadmap involves huge investments. He stated that it is very natural given the geopolitical circumstances, however, it is equally important to strengthen the ecosystem around design, innovation and systems. The minister said that with the help of a combination of policies and leadership vision, India is at its peak of growth and expansion in the technology sector.
The Indian government has received proposals from five companies interested in setup semiconductor and display factories in India by making a cumulative investment of $ 20.5 billion which is roughly around Rs 1.53 Lakh Crore. The companies which have submitted proposals to set up electronic chip manufacturing plants include a joint venture of Vedanta Foxconn, IGSS ventures and ISMC. A new release from the IT ministry informs that these companies are looking to make an investment of $13.6 billion and are seeking $5.6 billion support from the centre via the Rs 76,000 crore incentive scheme. Furthermore, Vedanta and Elest have also submitted their applications to install display fab projects in the country with an investment of $6.7 billion and are seeking around $2.7 billion in support from the government.
Moreover, the government is also going to sponsor 40% of the chips above 28nm up to 45nm as well as setting up manufacturing units for 45nm to 65nm wafers. The Vedanta-Foxconn Joint Venture, IGSS ventures and ISMC have submitted their proposals to set up 28 nanometres to 65-nanometre semiconductor fabs which will have a capacity of nearly about 120,000 wafers a month. The government had previously announced the decision to allocate Rs 76,000 crore outlay for semiconductors and display manufacturing segment which will help boost their production in the country
