Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a pitch for India to emerge as a semiconductor hub by outlining six key reasons that make it an attractive destination for semiconductor technologies.
Inaugurating online the maiden three-day Semicon India Conference being held in Bengaluru he he said India was building the digital infrastructure to connect over 1.3 billion Indians. “UPI is the world’s most efficient payment infrastructure today. We are using digital technology to transform lives in all sectors of governance from health and welfare to inclusion and empowerment. We are one of the largest consumers of data per capita. And we continue to grow,” he said.
The government was paving the way for India to lead the next technology revolution by connecting 600,000 villages with broadband. “We are investing in developing capacities in 5G, IoT and clean energy technologies. We are working to unleash the next wave of innovation in data, AI and other technologies,” Modi added.
Asserting that India is headed for robust economic growth, Modi pointed out that the country hosts the world’s fastest growing start-up ecosystem. New unicorns are coming up every few weeks, he added. He also projected that India’s own consumption of semiconductors is expected to cross $80 billion by 2026 and $110 billion by 2030.
Rationalising compliances
Stating that his government had undertaken wide ranging reforms for improving ease of doing business including abolishing more than 25,000 compliances and giving a push towards auto-renewal of licences, he said “Digitisation is also bringing speed and transparency to the regulatory framework. Today, we have one of the most favorable taxation structures in the world.”
The Prime Minister said that India was investing heavily in skilling and training young Indians for the needs of the 21 st century. “We have an exceptional semiconductor design talent pool which makes up to 20 per cent of the world’s semiconductor design engineers. Almost all of the top 25 semiconductor design companies have their design or R&D centers in our country,” Modi noted.
Incentive for manufacturing
India, he said has also undertaken several measures towards transforming the manufacturing sector. “Production Linked Incentives’ schemes offer incentives of over $26 billion in 14 key sectors. “Over the next five years, the electronics manufacturing sector is expected to see record growth. We recently announced Semi-con India Programme with a total outlay of over $10 billion. This programme aims to provide financial support to companies investing in semiconductors, display manufacturing and design ecosystems.
Assuring that his government will continue to support the industry in future as well, Modi added ”We have taken care to see that the Semi-con India programme addresses various parts of the ecosystem such as semiconductor fab, display fab, design, assembly, test, marking and packaging of semiconductors.”
Published on
April 29, 2022
