Government plans to invest $ 10 bn in chip making facilities

The government is planning to invest $10 billion in chip manufacturing facilities to strengthen infrastructure for chip manufacturing and designing in the country in order to cater to the growing domestic demand and to cut down the imports in the next few years.
 
“The government will be investing $ 10 billion in the chip manufacturing facilities coming up in Gujarat and UP, where a consortium of manufacturing firms have come up to set up the production bases,” revealed RS Sharma, secretary, department of electronics and information technology, Government of India, during the recently held Indian Electronics Expo in New Delhi.
 
The government would also invest $ 400 million in developing an Indian version of microprocessor. These are part of the initiatives that are under way to create an eco-system that lays focus on high ended innovation. A dedicated fund, known as Electronics Development Fund had been created to leverage the use of venture capital funds to promote more start-ups in the country, added Sharma.
 
Mentioning about the advantages that India is endowed with in the production of electronics goods in the country, Sharma said that the frugal technologies that it has evolved has a higher value quotient and are suitable for many countries which are at the same level of development.
 
The Secretary said that India provided an exciting hub for electronics investment mainly on account of the surging domestic market and infrastructure, logistics and financial support being provided to the investors, be they from India or abroad. China undoubtedly is the major producer of electronic goods in the world. Of late, many of the electronics giants are embarking on a China plus strategy, mostly focusing on India. Coupled with Make in India and Digital India program initiated recently by the government, the renewed interest in electronics production in the country can help India achieve the target set for zero import of electronics into the country by 2020.