HIGHLIGHTS
- The government is offering up to 40% financial assistance.
- Vedanta and Elest have suggested establishing display manufacturing plants.
- The Centre also offers incentives for chip creation.
The government's vision for the semiconductor sector includes large expenditures owing to geopolitical factors, but it also prioritises design and innovation, said Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Monday.
Speaking at the 35th International VLSI and Embedded Systems Conference, Chandrasekhar stated that India's success during the COVID-19 epidemic has established the country as a technical authority.
"Our aspirations, particularly in the semiconductor field, are quite clear." Our vision and plan to the semiconductor industry require a significant investment. It is inevitable given the world's geopolitics in fabs (semiconductor manufacturing), but as essential is the environment around innovation, design, and systems.
The government would provide financial assistance of up to 40% for chips with dimensions ranging from 28nm to 45nm, and up to 30% for the establishment of manufacturing units with dimensions ranging from 45nm to 65nm.
Vedanta and Elest have proposed investing $6.7 billion in display production facilities used in mobile phones, laptops, and other electronic devices (about Rs 50,000 crore). They have requested $2.7 billion (about Rs. 20,000 crore) from the government under the programme for the establishment of display fabs in India.
The Centre also offers incentives for semiconductor design, design infrastructure assistance, and product design-related incentives, among other things.
The incentives include up to Rs. 30 lakh per application for multi-project wafer manufacturing for design, as well as a 6-4 percent refund on net sales of developed semiconductor items over a five-year period beginning in fiscal year 2022-23.
"We in India are currently at an unparalleled turning moment in terms of the growth and expansion of our technology industry, thanks to a combination of policies and leadership vision. We have a long history of success in technological services, outsourcing, and so on "According to Chandrasekhar.
He went on to say that India has produced more unicorns in the startup sector than any other economy on the planet.
"If you start with that and then go on to the Prime Minister's vision of 'techade,' it is evident that we now have runway of opportunities in the ESDM (electronics system design and manufacture) area, embedded design space, and, of course, semiconductor sector."
"We are investing funds in businesses in the design and innovation ecosystem and fostering entrepreneurship." "It is apparent that our aspirations are genuine," added the minister.
