PM Modi hails Semiconductor Mission; says it will strengthen dream of Aatmanirbhar Bharat

As the Union Cabinet approved the Programme for Development of Semiconductors and Display Manufacturing Ecosystem in India on Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the Programme will strengthen the dream of an 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat.'

PM Modi tweeted:

As per the Centre's official statement, the following broad incentives have been approved for the development of semiconductors and display manufacturing ecosystem in India:

• Semiconductor Fabs and Display Fabs: The Scheme for Setting up of Semiconductor Fabs and Display Fabs in India shall extend fiscal support of up to 50% of project cost on the pari-passu basis to applicants who are found eligible and have the technology as well as capacity to execute such highly capital intensive and resource incentive projects. The government of India will work closely with the State Governments to establish High-Tech Clusters with requisite infrastructure in terms of land, semiconductor grade water, high-quality power, logistics and research ecosystem to approve applications for setting up at least two greenfield Semiconductor Fabs and two Display Fabs in the country.
• Semi-conductor Laboratory (SCL): Union Cabinet has also approved that the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology will take requisite steps for the modernization and commercialization of the Semi-conductor Laboratory (SCL). MeitY will explore the possibility for the Joint Venture of SCL with a commercial fab partner to modernize the brownfield fab facility.
• Compound Semiconductors / Silicon Photonics / Sensors (including MEMS) Fabs and Semiconductor ATMP / OSAT Units: The Scheme for Setting up of Compound Semiconductors / Silicon Photonics / Sensors (including MEMS) Fabs and Semiconductor ATMP / OSAT facilities in India shall extend fiscal support of 30% of capital expenditure to approved units. At least 15 such units of Compound Semiconductors and Semiconductor Packaging are expected to be established with Government support under this scheme.
• Semiconductor Design Companies: The Design Linked Incentive (DLI) Scheme shall extend product design linked incentive of up to 50% of eligible expenditure and product deployment linked incentive of 6% - 4% on net sales for five years. Support will be provided to 100 domestic companies of semiconductor design for Integrated Circuits (ICs), Chipsets, System on Chips (SoCs), Systems & IP Cores and semiconductors linked to design and facilitate the growth of not less than 20 such companies which can achieve turnover of more than Rs.1500 crore in the coming five years.
• India Semiconductor Mission: In order to drive the long-term strategies for developing sustainable semiconductors and display ecosystem, a specialized and independent “India Semiconductor Mission (ISM)” will be set up. The India Semiconductor Mission will be led by global experts in the semiconductor and display industry. It will act as the nodal agency for efficient and smooth implementation of the schemes on Semiconductors and Display ecosystem.

Union External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar also hailed the programme and tweeted:

Earlier, Union Ministers Anurag Thakur and Ashwini Vaishnaw held a cabinet briefing to explain the details and importance of the programme and the way it will help the country develop. During the Cabinet briefing, Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur informed that an ambitious project to establish a complete ecosystem of semiconductors and display manufacturing has been sanctioned and Rs 76,000 crores will be spent on this project in 6 years. 

Further elaborating on the scheme, Union Minister of Telecom and Information Technology (IT) Ashwini Vaishnaw said, "Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken a historic decision in the field of Electronics in which the development of a complete ecosystem could take place within the country including design, fabrication, testing and packaging. It would take the investment of Rs 76,000 crore. Today we have reached USD75 billion in electronics manufacturing in 7 years. With the pace that we are moving at, in the next 6 years, we will reach USD300 billion in electronics manufacturing."

Image: ANI