Govt to boost semiconductor manufacturing in next 10 yrs: Ashwini Vaishnaw

Union Minister for Electronics & Information Technology, Ashwini Vaishnaw announced that the govt will come up with a program very soon to put the country on a good semiconductor journey

In a bid to give a boost to semiconductor manufacturing in the country, Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology, Ashwini Vaishnaw on Saturday announced that the government will come up with a program very soon to put the country on a good semiconductor journey for the next 10 years.

"When PM approved the Semicon India program on Jan 1, 2022, we promised that within the next 14-16 months, we'll work hard, learn from the world's experience and come out with a program which will take the country on a good semiconductor journey for next 10 years," Vaishnaw said.

The government launched a programme called Semicon India Programme in December 2021 with an outlay of Rs 76,000 crore. The programme seeks to support the development of the semiconductors and the display manufacturing ecosystem in India.

"As Government, we promised you and this 14-16 months period begins on March 1 this year. You will see some good news in the coming weeks," Union Minister added.

He highlighted that global companies have shown keen interest in India's semiconductor manufacturing, which is important to meet the country's strategic needs.

"Semiconductor manufacturing, which is crucial to meet the strategic needs of the country, has attracted interest from global companies as a good number of applications have been received under the programme," Vaishnaw had said last year.

The minister had apprised the parliamentary consultative committee in 2023 that several state governments like Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Odisha, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu are in talks with the companies to set up semiconductor manufacturing plants/fab complexes.

The Semicon India Programme aims to provide attractive incentive support to companies/consortia that are engaged in Silicon Semiconductor Fabs, Display Fabs, Compound Semiconductors / Silicon Photonics / Sensors (including MEMS) Fabs, Semiconductor Packaging (ATMP / OSAT) and Semiconductor Design.