New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said India has ticked all the boxes to become a good energy conductor for the semiconductor industry, while inviting companies to not only “make in India, for India, but also for the world”.
Speaking at the inauguration of the second edition of SemiconIndia 2023 in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, Modi added that India was rolling out the red carpet for the semiconductor industry.
Pointing out that the industry was recovering from the side effects of the pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war, Modi said the semiconductor was not just India’s need but that the world needed a trusted reliable chip supply chain. “Who can be a more trusted partner than the world’s largest democracy,” he said.
“Investors trust India as it has a stable, responsible and reform-oriented government. The industry has faith in India as infrastructure is developing in every sector. The tech sector believes in India as technology is growing here. The semiconductor industry trusts India as we have a massive talent pool,” he said, adding that skilled engineers and designers were India’s strength.
“Anyone who wants to be a part of the world’s most vibrant and unified market has faith in India. When we tell you to make in India, let’s make for India, make for the world,” the Prime Minister said at the government’s flagship event aimed at making India a global hub for semiconductor design, manufacturing and technology development.
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He assured the industry that India understood the needs of the global supply chain, raw materials, trained manpower and machinery and was continuously carrying out policy reforms to accelerate the growth of the country’s semiconductor sector.
Giving the analogy of a conductor and insulator where energy can pass through conductors and not through insulators, the Prime Minister said that India was ticking every checkbox to become a good energy conductor for the semiconductor industry, while stressing that the policy reforms taking place in India would have a positive impact on the construction of the semiconductor ecosystem.
He also added that India has given several tax exemptions for the new manufacturing industry, introduced a faceless and seamless taxation process, abolished archaic laws, increased ease of doing business and highlighted that India was among countries offering the lowest corporate tax rate in India.
“These decisions and policies are a reflection of the fact that India is rolling out red carpet for the semiconductor industry… As India moves forward on the path of reform, new opportunities will be created. India is becoming an excellent conductor for semiconductor investments,” Modi said.
He said that while last year – the first edition of Semiconindia – the discussion was on why one should invest in India’s semiconductor industry, this had changed thos year to why not invest in India.
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“The industry has linked its future with India’s aspirations… You have linked your dreams with the might of India. And India doesn’t disappoint anyone,” he said.
Further, he highlighted that India’s share in global electronic manufacturing has increased manifold. In 2014, India’s electronic manufacturing was less than 30 billion dollars, which has crossed 100 billion dollars today, he said, adding that the export of electronics and mobile devices has doubled in the last two years.
“The world is witnessing the Industry 4.0 revolution today,” the PM said, adding that the basis for any industrial revolution was the aspirations of the people in that particular sector.
He further added that the “industrial revolutions in the past and the American Dream had the same relationship” and that he was seeing a similar relationship between the Industry 4.0 revolution and India’s aspirations, particularly that of its middle class.
“Today, Indian aspirations are the driving force behind the development of India. India is a country where extreme poverty is declining at a very fast rate and the neo-middle class is rising very fast… The growing neo-middle class of India has become the powerhouse of Indian aspirations”, the Prime Minister said.
Earlier at the event Friday, U.S. chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Chief Technical Officer Mark Papermaster announced plans to invest around $400 million in the country over the next five years and build its largest design centre in the tech hub of Bengaluru.
The event comes just weeks after Foxconn withdrew from a $19.5 billion chips joint venture with Vedanta. While Vedanta said it is “fully committed” to its semiconductor fab project and has lined up other partners to set up India’s first foundry. Foxconn added that it is working toward submitting an application related to the “Modified Programme for Semiconductors and Display Fab [Fabrication] Ecosystem.”
US-based Micron in June announced it will invest $825 million to build a new semiconductor assembly and test facility in Gujarat.
The government recently issued invitation for companies to apply for chip incentives as it plans to establish itself as a semiconductor-manufacturing hub, rivalling the likes of Taiwan.