PM Modi stated that the government recognises its position as an enabler and force multiplier, citing the production linked incentives (PLI) and the $10 billion semiconductor package as examples of how the government is encouraging companies to engage in the semiconductor industry.
“India has the appetite for tech and risk taking. We have put the odds in your favour as far as possible through supportive policy environment. We have shown that India means business,” Modi said, speaking of the role of investors in making India as the “hub for semiconductors for the world” in the coming years.
Speaking of the enabling environment for the semiconductor industry in India, the prime minister said the efforts in enhancing digital connectivity, enabling broadband connections in the villages, technological advancements such as AI/ML, robust economic growth, and movements in ease of doing business and digitisation should be able to act as catylsts for the growth of the semiconductor industry in India.
Modi also said the thriving startup ecosystem is witnessing a surge in unicorns, meaning startups with $1-billion valuation. “New unicorns are coming up every few weeks,” he said.
The India market for semiconductors would reach $80 billion by 2026, and cross $110 billion by 2030, he said.
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Speaking at the event, Electronics & Information Technology Minister, Ashwini Vaishnaw said India is providing ‘substantial incentives’ amid similar offerings from other countries. “But the big differentiator is that we have committed to create and augment our talent pool by 85,000 industry-ready semiconductor professionals over the next 10 years,” he said.
He said the government has tied up with institutions like Interuniversity Microelectronics Centre (IMEC) of Belgium, Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) of Taiwan and Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) of Singapore.
“Almost 100 academic institutions and R&D organizations have been roped in to train 5,000 professionals in research, 30,000 engineers BTech and MTech and 50,000 at floor level. So this is a very big commitment to augment our talent nation status,” he said.
He went on to add that India is home to 20% of the world’s very large-scale integration (VLSI) design engineers and that 250 semiconductor design companies are working out of India. About 24,000 design engineers who have designed more than 2000 chips are also present in India as per data from the industry, he added. “We seek to create a global semiconductor ecosystem in India riding on our sincerity,” he said.
Minister of State for Electronics and IT, Rajeev Chandrasekhar too echoed this sentiment when he said that it was India’s ambition to grow and become a significant trusted source of digital products, digital services and digital talent for the world.
“Our goal is to address innovation and performance of the entire semiconductor ecosystem, from design, to packaging to fabs to silicon and compound and to create prime movers and investments in each of these areas,” he said.
He emphasised that catalyzing the semiconductor ecosystem is a natural progression when it comes to the government’s larger roadmap of growing the digital economy into a trillion dollar digital economy by 2025-26.
“Unlike countries and some other places that think semiconductor is the fashion of the month or the flavor of the month, for us in India the approach to catalyzing the semiconductor ecosystem, seeking out its growth and expansion is a very calibrated, strategic roadmap.”
