Hyderabad: Union Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Friday said that the country’s first indigenous semiconductor chip would be rolled out this year.
Speaking at the 85th foundation day celebrations of Keshav Memorial Educational Society here, he said India is going to become one of the most important semiconductor nations in the world.
Today, some of the most complex chips are designed in cities, including Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Pune, Gurugram and Chennai, he said.
“Our first ‘Made in India’ chip will be rolled out this year, and now we are looking at the next phase, where we can get equipment manufacturers, material manufacturers, and designers in India,” news agency PTI quoted him as saying.
“For materials, from parts per million purity, we need to go to parts per billion purity levels. This requires huge transformative changes in the process, and the industry is working to achieve this,” the Minister for Electronics and Information Technology added.
In December 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the Semicon India programme with a total outlay of Rs 76,000 crore for the development of the semiconductor and display manufacturing ecosystem in our country. The programme aims to provide financial support to companies investing in semiconductors, display manufacturing and design ecosystems.
The government has also set up India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) as an independent business division within the Digital India Corporation. This division has administrative and financial autonomy to formulate and drive India’s long-term strategies for developing semiconductors and display manufacturing facilities, and the semiconductor design ecosystem.
India is also attracting significant foreign investments to bolster its semiconductor industry. NXP Semiconductors plans to invest over $1 billion to double its R&D efforts in India, and Analog Devices is collaborating with the Tata Group to explore semiconductor manufacturing within the country. Micron Technology is setting up a $2.75 billion assembly and testing plant in Gujarat, expected to create 5,000 direct jobs and 15,000 community jobs
According to a Reuters report, India’s semiconductor market is projected to reach $63 billion by 2026.
