Delhi aims to cash in on growing market for chip and display panels

INDIA is expecting to court a total investment of at least $25 billion (£23bn) as a result of its incentive scheme meant to boost local manufacturing of chip and display panels, junior IT minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar said last Wednesday (21).

His comments came hours after the Indian government raised fiscal support for new semiconductor facilities to

cover 50 per cent of project costs. It also said it would remove a ceiling for maximum permitted investment in order to enable incentives for display manufacturing.

Prime minister Narendra Modi’s government is seeking to attract investments under a $10bn (£9.36bn) incentive plan for chip and display production, aiming to make India a key player in the global supply chain.

The government had previously agreed to cover between 30 per cent and 50 per cent of the cost of setting up new display and chip plants. It said last Wednesday that it will also cover 50 per cent of the capital expenditure needed to set up semiconductor packaging facilities.

Chandrasekhar said the government is in talks with many of the global players to invest in India’s chip sector.

“These conversations are happening in the context of multiple incentive packages and programs that have been announced by various countries,” Chandrasekhar said.

“Our proposition is ... we have a proven track record of growing the electronics industry. And we also come along with the basic infrastructure requirement to set up manufacturing.”

Earlier this month, oil-tometals conglomerate Vedanta and Taiwan’s Foxconn signed a pact with Gujarat state to invest $19.5bn (£18.2bn) to set up semiconductor and display production plants.

Vedanta is the third firm to announce a chip plant location in India after international consortium ISMC and Singapore-based IGSS Ventures. They are setting up facilities in the southern states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, respectively.