Semiconductor shortages and the plight of hard-hit industries have awakened the need not only for the Indian subcontinent but globally as well, not to depend on American, Japanese, South Korean or Taiwanese semiconductor manufacturers.
In the quest to become Atmanirbhar and an age-old desire to be a leading manufacturer of semiconductors, India is finally moving towards that.
In the quest to become Atmanirbhar and an age-old desire to be a leading manufacturer of semiconductors, India is finally moving towards that.
From autos to defence, every sector has faced a crisis, and industries as well as the government realize the pressing priority. In the quest to become Atmanirbhar and an age-old desire to be a leading manufacturer of semiconductors, India is finally moving towards that.
The Government of India launched a scheme with the announcement of the Semicon India program in December 2021. The objective of the program is to showcase the development and manufacturing ecosystem of semiconductors in India. The idea is to attract proposals from various semiconductor manufacturers and seek to set up manufacturing plants, develop forward-looking design capabilities and make India a global hub.
Tata Motors, now a major electric car maker as well as recently partnered with Japanese chip maker Renesas Electronics, to co-develop semiconductors.
Another major development is Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with Foxconn Chairman Young Liu. India is extending its hand to expand electronics manufacturing in the country, with a positive outlook towards achieving carbon neutrality and inclination towards EV adoption.
Accordingly, in February this year, a joint venture took place between two big companies – Foxconn and Vedanta. With a majority holding of 60 per cent equity, Vedanta Group will invest heavily in manufacturing semiconductor chips in India over the next few years.
With the directions of the PMO (Prime Minister’s Office), the IT Ministry is also associated with the same mission of self-reliance. Inviting industry stalwarts, corporate houses and state governments, the central government has allocated a budget of Rs 76,000 crore for the Semiconductor Mission. Apart from semiconductor packaging and design, there is also provision for incentives for silicon semiconductor fabs, display fabs, compound semiconductors, silicon photonics and sensor fabs.
Recently, the Basavaraj Bommai-led Karnataka government signed a $3 billion (Rs 23,661 crore) MoU with Israel-based ISMS Analog, marking the beginning of the vision. The fab units are expected to come up in the next seven years.
The government is leaving no stone unturned to attract investment and plans are underway to bring in over $20 billion (Rs 157,740 crore) capital to set up more such plants.
Whereas the shortage of semiconductors and components still remains a challenge and the country has a long way to go for setting up funds and infrastructure. However, the journey has begun!