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With senior executives of over 50 leading semiconductor and electronics companies in attendance, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday pitched India as a trusted partner in the global chip supply chain, saying the country never disappoints anyone. India is rolling out the red carpet for the semiconductor industry, the PM said, referring to fast-paced policy reforms in the area. India has a market of scale and is filled with possibilities, he stated. “Whoever moves fast will get the first-mover’s advantage,” he said.
On the inaugural day of the second edition of the SemiconIndia global summit here, leaders of global majors, such as AMD, Micron Technology, Applied Materials, and Foxconn, committed investments in India’s semiconductor ecosystem. While AMD announced an investment of $400 million (about Rs. 3,300 crore) in India over five years and opening of a 500,000-sqft R&D campus in Bengaluru, which it said is its largest in the world, Micron reaffirmed its commitment to establish the country’s first semiconductor plant in Gujarat, creating 5,000 direct jobs and addressing demand from domestic and international markets.
Hon Hai Technology Group, also known as Foxconn, which recently pulled out of the chip-making joint venture with Vedanta, said it intends to apply for incentives under the government’s semiconductor production scheme. Vedanta group Chairman Anil Agarwal, on the other hand, said the first phase of its semiconductor project will involve a $5-billion investment, and the venture will be ready with made-in-India chip in two and a half years. Other investments in India include a four-year $400-million plan by US chip equipment maker Applied Materials to set up a new engineering centre in Bengaluru.
Speaking at the event, Modi said semiconductor is not just India’s need and that the world needs a trusted reliable chip supply chain as the industry recovers from the pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war. “Who else than the world’s largest democracy can become this trusted partner?” he said, stressing that the country has a stable, responsible, and reform-oriented government.
He also underscored the massive talent pool of skilled engineers and designers that India offers to global chip producers. “Earlier, people were questioning our aim to make chips and were asking ‘why invest (in India)’. Now, the question has changed to ‘why not invest’,” said the prime minister.
At the event, Foxconn CEO Young Liu said the ecosystem for semiconductor chips in India is for the "very brave", as he expressed optimism about the sector's future. “I am very optimistic about where we are headed. Taiwan is and will be your most trusted and reliable partner. Let’s build this together,” he said.
The three-day SemiconIndia event holds significance as the government-backed India Semiconductor Mission has gained traction in the past few months. US-based semiconductor companies Micron Technology, Applied Materials, and Lam Research have recently committed to investing in India’s emerging semiconductor industry.
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The government in 2022 launched a $10-billion semiconductor production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme that offers fiscal support of 50 per cent of project cost for semiconductor fabs across technology nodes. Despite receiving several proposals, the government has struggled to find an applicant meeting its requirement for setting up a semiconductor manufacturing plant. The government revised the PLI scheme last month and re-invited applications from the industry.
Nonetheless, the leader in memory chips Micron Technology has announced an assembly, testing, marking, and packaging (ATMP) unit in Gujarat’s Sanand industrial area. “On behalf of Micron’s global team, I am proud to represent a commitment to build a semiconductor assembly and test facility for memory. Our team here in Gujarat will transform DRAM and NAND memory into finished component packages ready to share to end customers here in India, as well as all across the world,” said Sanjay Mehrotra, the CEO of Micron Technology.
Ajit Manocha, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of the global industry body, SEMI, said: “Throughout my career, I have been asked whether India is ready to be part of the global semiconductor industry. Today, I can say the journey has begun. For the first time, geopolitics, domestic policies, and private sector capacity are aligned in India’s favour to become a player in semiconductor production.”
