India is on its semiconductor electronics manufacturing journey and a huge aspirational market can help realise the mega chip dream. Semiconductor industry is capturing a significant share of the global market, driving innovation, and stimulating economic growth through job creation and technological advancement. “Our dream is that every device in the world will have an Indian-made chip,” Modi said on September 11 while inaugurating the ‘Semicon India 2024’ at the India Expo Mart in Greater Noida. Stressing that the country is set to play a big role in driving the global semiconductor industry, he highlighted that the government is offering 50 per cent financial support for setting up semiconductor manufacturing facilities, with state governments also playing a key role in this effort.
Semiconductor is a foundational industry. With the advent of artificial intelligence (AI), chips are being used in medical instruments, mobile phones, laptops, cars, trucks, trains, televisions and practically every device on earth India is a major consumer of chips and has built the world’s best digital public infrastructure (DPI) on this chip. This small chip is playing a significant role in ensuring last-mile delivery in India. Whether it is the unified payments interface (UPI), RuPay card, Digi Locker, or Digi Yatra, various digital platforms have become part of everyday life. The demand for data centres in the country is continuously rising and these run on chips.
India has the potential to fulfill the dream of developing a ‘Made in India’ chip for every piece of equipment. At the moment, the chip fabrication facility in Dholera, Gujarat, is being set up by Tata Electronics with an investment of over Rs 91,000 crore. The Semiconductor Assembly, Testing, Marking and Packaging (ATMP) facility in Morigaon, Assam is being set up by Tata Electronics for about Rs 27,000 crore. The Maharashtra government has approved a chip manufacturing project, to be jointly set up by Israel’s Tower Semiconductor and the Adani Group in Panvel in Raigad district with a proposed investment of Rs 58,763 crore in the first phase and another Rs 25,184 crore in the second phase, creating at least 15,000 jobs.
The Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT) facility in Sanand, Gujarat is being set up by CG Power and Industrial Solutions Ltd for about Rs 7,500 crore. The cabinet has also approved the proposal of Kaynes Semicon to set up a semiconductor unit in Sanand, Gujarat, with an investment of Rs 3,300 crore that will produce nearly 60 lakh chips per day. The first chip plant in the country was the Rs 22,500 crore US-based Micron’s semiconductor plant in Gujarat announced last year. India also has plans to establish a semiconductor research centre at the Indian Institute of Space Sciences, in collaboration with IITs, to produce not only high-tech chips for today but also next-generation chips.
