Indian government has boosted financial support for firms setting up manufacturing facilities in the country

India has scaled up incentives for semiconductor manufacturers, under a $10 billion program aiming to position the country as a global hub for chip-making, challenging China’s dominance, the Indian prime minister has said.

Addressing the Semicon India 2023 conference in Gujarat on Friday, attended by heads of US chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices and Taiwanese giant Foxconn, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India’s semiconductor space is poised to witness exponential growth. 

Modi noted that every industrial revolution has been driven by people’s aspirations, and the fourth such revolution is being driven by India's goals. "A year ago, people used to ask why they should invest in the Indian semiconductor sector. Now they ask why not invest in India," he added.

Outlining his country’ support for the semiconductor industry, the prime minister noted that state subsidies for companies willing to set up chip-manufacturing facilities in India have been increased from 30% to 50% of the set-up cost. The scheme was approved last year amid concerns by investors whose applications to build facilities domestically had faced various roadblocks. 

Examples include a $3 billion semiconductor project by the ISMC consortium, ​​a joint venture between the Abu Dhabi-based Next Orbit Ventures and Israel's Tower Semiconductor, and Foxconn’s $19.5 billion joint venture with India’s mines-to-metals conglomerate Vedanta. Foxconn withdrew from the project earlier this month, but said it would continue exploring opportunities in the Indian market. 

At the Semicon conference on Friday, Foxconn Chairman Young Liu said he was optimistic over India's semiconductor plan. “Taiwan is and will be your most trusted and reliable partner...Let's do this together,” Liu said. He later told news network CNBC-TV18 that the world's largest electronics manufacturer would also invest $2 billion over the next five years, without providing further details.

“PM @narendramodi ji once mentioned that ‘IT’ stands for India and Taiwan. Taiwan is and will be your most trusted and reliable partner. Let’s do this together.” - Young Liu, CEO Foxconn.@GoI_MeitY @SemiconIndia @Semicon_India @_DigitalIndia @Electronics_GoI#SemiconIndia2023… pic.twitter.com/ChQ67AKjf8

— Rajeev Chandrasekhar

Source: RT - Daily news