We will see 2-3 more fab plants get approved soon: Ashwini Vaishnaw

India might see 2-3 semiconductor fab plant proposals get approved soon, said Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw at an event on Wednesday.

“We started our India semiconductor mission (in 2021), and we already have a Micron plant which is under construction. Very soon, we will see at least 2-3 more approvals in the space,” said Vaishnaw.

In 2021, the Union Cabinet had approved the semicon India programme with a financial outlay of Rs 76,000 crore for the development of a semiconductor and display ecosystem.

The scheme provides incentive support to firms that are engaged in setting up facilities related to semiconductor fabs, display fabs, compound semiconductors, semiconductor packaging, and chip design.

Speaking at the event, Vaishnaw said that the country was now moving from the design ecosystem to the fab and assembly, testing, marking, and packaging (ATMP) ecosystem, in the semiconductor space.

“We would like to stride all the components throughout the semiconductor value chain. We have our strength in design and now as a natural corollary, we have to build our strength in fab and ATMP space,” he said.

He further said that the government aims to have 3-4 good high-volume fabs in the country within the next five years.

Vaishnaw was speaking at the launch of the Indus Appstore by fintech giant PhonePe, where he said that in the next few years the government will focus on identifying 10-15 big technologies and develop them in partnership with the private sector, which can then be exported to the world.

Further, talking about smartphone manufacturing in the country, he said that the government aims to develop a home-grown mobile handset brand in the coming years. “We will also work in creating a handset ecosystem in the country in a very focused manner,” he added.

The initial success of having large-scale smartphone manufacturing has given the government as well as industry partners a lot of confidence to come to India, he said.