India's Semiconductor Push: Top 4 By 2032 And Best By 2035, Says Ashwini Vaishnaw
The government has so far approved 10 manufacturing units, including 2 fabs and 8 chip assembly, test and packaging projects, with an investment of Rs 1.6 lakh crore under the Semicon India Programme.
India will be among top-four semiconductor manufacturing nations by 2032, and become the best by 2035, driven by the talent the country has, Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Friday.
The electronics and IT minister said that four chip companies will start commercial production this year, and almost all the top automobile and telecom companies will source semiconductors from them.
"I think by 2032, we would be very significant among the top 4 nations of the semiconductor industry, and by 2035, we would be among the best. This direction is clearly visible. This can be clearly predicted," Vaishnaw said on the sidelines of an event for announcing the approval of 22 projects with investments worth Rs 41,863 crore under the Electronics Components Manufacturing Scheme (ECMS).
The government has so far approved 10 manufacturing units, including 2 fabs (fabrication units) and 8 chip assembly, test and packaging projects, with an investment of Rs 1.6 lakh crore under the Semicon India Programme.
"The plants which started pilot production last year, they are the ones that will get into commercial production earlier, which is Kaynes and CG Semi. Micron has also started pilot production very recently. They will also go next month. Tata plant in Assam will start pilot production by middle of the year, and by the end of the year they will start the commercial production," Vaishnaw said.
Besides, under the Design Linked Incentive (DLI) scheme, 24 chip design projects are supported through startups, representing Rs 920 crore in project value.
The minister said the industry has been talking about India's leadership in the semiconductor segment because of the focus the government has on talent.
He said there are now 298 universities in the country, where students are designing chips that are getting validated.
"We could not count more than 20 universities in the whole world, including the US, China, and Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea (where students can design a chip, manufacture it, and validate the product). India has, because of our focus on silicon, 298 universities," Vaishnaw said.
