Sanand: Union Minister for Railways, Telecom, and IT, Ashwini Vaishnaw, on Saturday said that Micron’s Sanand plant’s success would highlight India’s rapid execution ability, potentially accelerating foreign investments.
Speaking to Mint, Vaishnaw said two more proposals for semiconductor fabrication units are expected, predicting more job opportunities and infrastructure investments.
Q: What targets have you set for Micron?
It is matter of great satisfaction that within 90 days of the prime minister signing the MoU for India’s first semiconductor plant, we’ve held a groundbreaking ceremony.
The construction will progress very rapidly and we will see the first Made in India chip coming out of this plant by December 2024, that’s the target.
Q: How might other companies perceive this progress?
The global semiconductor industry is very happy with the progress of this first unit. Confidence in India’s capability, the prime minister’s vision, and the semiconductor policy execution has surged.
We should be seeing at least two major proposals, with India assuming leadership position.
Q: While semiconductors bring employment prospects, how is railway infrastructure being integrated?
This is a very big opportunity because once this plant is successful, we can see more such units coming up in India. We are also seeing a lot of infrastructure boom in this entire area. Sanand is a big industrial hub. This is also the constituency of home minister, and this is where the Tata Nano project saw inception.
So this area has huge history of developing rapidly as an industrial hub. So we are starting the Vande Bharat service, from Jamnagar to Ahmedabad, which will have a stop in Sanand, and we’ll have a Vande Metro service within the next six months, which will connect Sanand and Ahmedabad.
Q: Dholera is also being pitched as a semiconductor hub. Can you share the status of development there?
Dholera has progressed so well, with a lot of social infrastructure is coming up. Many new projects are coming up, it will become a major hub for semiconductor plants over there.
Q: How is the government facilitating all the ancillary industrial compounds?
The Gujarat government has reserved substantial land for the ancillary industry, and active discussions are underway with the state government. With the development of the main plant, numerous complementary industries are anticipated to emerge.
Q: What’s the strategy to stimulate chip demand within India?
There are incentives for domestically produced chips under the IT hardware production-linked incentive scheme. An influx of companies is headed to India for hardware manufacturing, intending to leverage the facility for chip supply. Sectors such as automotive stand to gain from cost efficiencies and a reliable, streamlined supply chain.
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Updated: 23 Sep 2023, 11:11 PM IST
