FM urges US firms to invest more in Indian chip sector
BENGALURU: Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday urged the US semiconductor industry to invest more in India as she highlighted the government’s commitment through the Indian Semiconductor Mission.
“FM spoke of the opportunities for companies situated in Silicon Valley for the entire semiconductor value chain and the government of India’s commitment to be a reliable player in the entire value chain with dedicated incentive for the sector in mission mode through the Indian Semiconductor Mission,” the finance ministry tweeted.
Last year, the government approved a ₹76,000-crore production linked incentive (PLI) scheme to boost semiconductor and display manufacturing in a bid to position India as a global hub for hi-tech production, and attract large chip makers.
Industry leaders from the semiconductor ecosystem, including design, manufacturing, equipment, technology and systems in San Francisco, informed the minister at a roundtable that they have substantially scaled their capabilities in India in the last few years and are also collaborating with academia for R&D. “The participants also mentioned that in view of global supply chain disruptions, they need to review overreliance of supply chain in certain jurisdictions and with the right policies and talent in place, the next decade will belong to India,” ministry said.
Sitharaman during the last leg of her US visit also met Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, who shared the company’s investment and expansion plans including quadrupling the number of drivers to 2 million in India.
Sitharaman “acknowledged Uber’s expansion plans in India and said that technology plays an important role in strengthening transportation and mobility sectors as well as last mile connectivity,” the ministry said.
The minister was in the US to attend the IMF and World Bank Spring meetings, G20 finance ministers and central governors meeting, and the Financial Action Task Force meeting.
Sitharaman also met First Solar CEO Mark Widmar and the two discussed India’s renewable energy landscape and the company’s $700 million investment.
Widmar told Sitharaman that its plant will be operational shortly, describing it as the company’s lowest-cost factory across jurisdictions with a very low carbon footprint. It recycles 90% of the material. Widmar pointed out that the Indian government’s new policy facilitates companies to operate at a level-playing field.
Opportunities around green hydrogen and sustainable energy were also discussed at length.