‘India to be on global stage of chip makers’

India will, in the next five years, join the high-stake global stage of semiconductor manufacturing as it combines unparalleled design capabilities with $10 billion of incentives to draw manufacturers to set up new fabs and units that will cut the dominance of Taiwan, South Korea and China, said IT and telecom minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.

In an interview to PTI, he said India’s “wellcrafted policies” are attracting manufacturers to set up new fabs (semiconductor fabrication plants) and pour investment in related sectors.

Semiconductors are an essential component of electronic devices, and are used in automobiles to computers, mobile phones and even washing machines.

India already has factories of best- known automobile companies—from Renault-Nissan to Hyundai, computer makers such as Dell, Apple suppliers and electronic makers like Samsung which produce TVs, washing machines and fridges, among others.

Now, India is eyeing to step up the manufacturing value chain with a high-stake semiconductor manufacturing. The Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government’s ₹76,000 crore of incentives have got four players including Micron and Tatas.

Vaishnaw said the country already has roughly one-third of global design talent.

His government is leveraging this and India’s geopolitical clout to become an indispensable partner for tech ambitions of the US, which like other western economies, is looking to decouple their supply chains from China. Beijing’s draconian lockdowns had disrupted global chip supply and sent companies and governments on a hunt for alternative sources of production.

India’s “wellcrafted policies” are attracting manufacturers to set up new fabs, said IT minister Vaishnaw