First Made-In-India Chip To Be Rolled Out By October: IT Minister

IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw expects the first “made-in-India” chip to be rolled out from a commercial fab by September or October this year. As per Economic Times, the minister made the comments during a media interaction in Bengaluru on Saturday (February 15). It is pertinent to note that Tata Electronics, in collaboration with Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (PSMC), is building a semiconductor unit in Gujarat’s Dholera. There is also Micron’s semiconductor assembly and test facility in the state’s Sanand, where nearly 60% of the construction work has already been completed. Vaishnaw said that the Centre has approved grants to the tune of INR 334 Cr for the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru “for new research and development (R&D) in gallium nitride, a technology in semiconductors, which is used in telecom and power”. He also noted that “latest” semiconductor design tools are being disseminated to students in 234 universities. The minister added that the union government also plans to come out with a production linked incentive (PLI) scheme for “components” soon, without underlining the specifics. The IT minister also said that the country has witnessed investments worth INR 13,162 Cr in the electronics manufacturing space in the “recent past”, with many more investments coming in. Responding to a question, Vaishnaw told the media personnel that the IT ministry is working with industry stakeholders to complete the first iteration of the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM 1.0). Under the first edition, the Centre plans to complete the modernisation of the semiconductor lab in Mohali. Post this, he said that the ministry will commence work on approving ISM 2.0, adding that budgetary allocation for the second edition of the mission will be decided after Cabinet approval. This comes at a time when the union government has pulled out all stops to make India a semiconductor hub by offering sops and incentives to global players to set up shop in the country. In 2021, the Centre launched the Semicon India programme, with an outlay of INR 76,000 Cr, to incentivise silicon semiconductor fabs, display fabs, compound semiconductors, and more. A year later, ISM was also introduced under the Semicon India scheme. Meanwhile, investors too are jumping on the bandwagon, with homegrown semiconductor startups bagging $28 Mn in 2024 from a mere $5 Mn in 2023. At the heart of all this is the homegrown semiconductor market which, as per Inc42 data, is projected to become a $150 Bn opportunity by 2030.

First Made-In-India Chip To Be Rolled Out By October: IT Minister

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