Days after the government of India announced its Rs 76,000 crore scheme for promoting semiconductor manufacturing in India, Ashwini Vaishnaw, Minister for Electronics & Information Technology welcomed Intel to India in response to the company’s SVP and the president of Intel Foundry Services.
Intel, however, told Business Today that it has no new plans to announce at this time. "Intel India is Intel's largest design centre outside of the US and we have been investing towards accelerating innovation and design engineering in India over the last two decades. However, we have no new plans to announce at this time," a company spokesperson said. Randhir Thakur, SVP and the president of Intel Foundry Services, a world-class service organization with a strong focus on technology innovation and operational excellence had lauded the government’s initiative tweeting: “Congrats to @GoI_MeitY @AshwiniVaishnaw @Rajeev_GoI for Semiconductor design & manufacturing incentives for India as hub for electronics & semiconductors. Glad to see a plan laid out for all aspects of the supply chain: talent, design, manufacturing, test, packaging & logistics.” Early this morning, Minister Vaishnaw responded by tweeting: “Intel – welcome to India”.
Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology and Union Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship had told Business today, “I'm willing to concede that it's an unprecedented opportunity for India. We have a Prime Minister who understands the value of technology, who's seen the opportunity for electronics in such clear terms from the very beginning. Plus, then there are people like me who have some experience in this space and who are in politics, and we have the entire stars aligned in terms of the post COVID geo-political scenario. So, I do believe that if we can’t do it this time, we will never be able to do it again, and I don't like to dwell on that at all. Instead, I think that this time around, we will do it. And I think that is the kind of confidence that the industry has. That is the confidence with which even the foreign partners, who today are being wooed by every country - every country is laying on the red carpet - look at India with a great amount of respect. Nobody is saying no to India.” Earlier this month, Nivruti Rai, Country Head, Intel India & Vice President, Intel Foundry Services, had told Business Today that India has made tremendous progress in electronics component making and chip design. More than 90 per cent of global semiconductor companies have their R&D centres in India, and as per the Department of Electronics and Information Technology, over 2,000 chips are designed every year in India. However, much more needs to be done to make India a semiconductor manufacturing hub, and real solutions will take time and strategic thinking to implement. She said, “It's also important to think about what the desired output is for Indian semiconductors. The demand for semiconductor solutions will only continue to grow, so there’s a need to look beyond the chips themselves, to address the varied use cases that aren’t just going into consumer products. There are plenty of opportunities in the Industrial Internet of things (IIoT), edge innovation, and human-centric AI to explore and compute. Intel is committed to enabling access and opportunities for the local technology ecosystem and will continue collaborating with the government, industry, and start-up community to turn India into a booming destination for IT sector products and solutions.” On December 15, the government announced industry-friendly measures for the development of the semiconductors and display manufacturing ecosystem in the country. The union cabinet had approved a financial outlay of Rs 76,000 crore for the semiconductor manufacturing ecosystem in India, announcing incentives for every part of the supply chain including electronic components, sub-assemblies, and finished goods. Under the scheme for holistic development of semiconductor and display manufacturing systems, the policy will support silicon semiconductor fabs, display labs, compound semiconductors/ silicon photonics/ sensors fabs, semiconductor packaging, semiconductor design, and modernisation and commercialisation of semiconductor Laboratory (SCL), Mohali.
Also read: Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Govt’s Vision for Semiconductor Manufacturing