India, US express support for building resilient semiconductor supply chain

India and the US on Friday expressed their support for building a resilient global semiconductor supply chain while reaffirming a pledge to sustain high-level engagements between governments, industries and academic institutions.

In a joint statement issued their bilateral talks here, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joseph Biden called upon the two governments to continue the work of transforming the India-US Strategic Partnership across all dimensions based on trust and mutual understanding.

The meeting was held soon after Biden arrived in New Delhi to participate in the G20 Summit to be chaired by Prime Minister Modi.

The two leaders expressed their support for building resilient global semiconductor supply chains while noting a multi-year initiative of Microchip Technology to invest approximately USD 300 million in expanding its research and development presence in India and also Advanced Micro Device's announcement to invest USD 400 million over the next five years to expand research, development and engineering operations here.

Modi and Biden, according to the joint statement, "expressed satisfaction at the ongoing implementation of announcements made in June 2023 by US companies, Micron, LAM Research, and Applied Materials".

They also welcomed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Bharat 6G Alliance and Next G Alliance, operated by the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions, as a first step towards deepening public-private cooperation between vendors and operators.

India and the US are also advancing the creation of investment platforms to lower the cost of capital and accelerate the deployment of greenfield renewable energy, battery storage and emerging green technology projects in India, the statement said.

"Towards this end, India's National Investment and Infrastructure Fund and the US Development Finance Corporation exchanged letters of intent to each provide up to USD 500 million to anchor a renewable infrastructure investment fund," it added.

The two leaders welcomed the efforts to develop an ambitious "Innovation Handshake" agenda under the India-US Commercial Dialogue to include two anchor events (one in India and the other in the United States), in which the two sides will collaborate to bring together start-ups, private equity and venture capital firms, corporate investment departments and government officials to forge connections between the two countries' innovation ecosystems.

Modi and Biden also pledged to sustain the high level of engagement between the governments, industries, and academic institutions of the two nations.

Further, the two countries expressed support for the women in the Digital Economy Initiative, which brings together governments, private sector companies, foundations, civil society and multilateral organisations to accelerate progress towards the closure of the digital gender divide.