PM Modi inaugurates Semicon India Conference; 'India poised for strong economic growth'

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the first Semicon India Conference 2022 via video conferencing in Bengaluru. The conference marked a significant step toward the formal launch of India's semiconductor strategy and policy, which aims to turn the country into a global centre for electronics system design and manufacturing.

The Semicon India Conference is purportedly aimed to take the Prime Minister’s vision of building India into a leader in semiconductor design, manufacturing, and innovation. In the inaugural session of the Semicon India conference, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke on the theme “Design and Manufacture in India, for the World: Catalyzing India's Semiconductor Ecosystem."

While speaking at the conference on Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “After all, semiconductors play a vast role in the world in more ways than we imagine. Henceforth, it is our common goal to make India one of the important partners in global semiconductor supply chains. We aim to work in this direction based on high-tech, high-quality, and high-reliability principles."

Several leaders of the Semiconductor industry, Union Ministers, investors, and academicians were present on the occasion. The first Semicon India Conference commenced under the guidance of the Minister of Electronics and Information technology, Ashwini Vaishnaw, and the Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology, Rajeev Chandrasekhar.

PM Modi lists six reasons for India being an attractive investment destination for semiconductor tech

Prime Minister Modi listed six reasons for India being one of the most attractive investment destinations for semiconductor technologies. 

First, “India is developing a digital infrastructure to link 1.3 billion Indians. We are harnessing digital technology to improve lives in all sectors of governance from health and welfare to inclusion and empowerment," Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated, referring to India's recent progress in the fields of financial inclusion, banking, and the digital payment revolution.

Second, “the government is laying the groundwork for India to be at the forefront of the next technological revolution. We're on our way to connecting 600,000 villages to broadband. We're investing in 5G, IoT, and sustainable energy technologies to develop capabilities," he added.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi listed the third reason by stating, “With the world's fastest-growing Startup Ecosystem, India is poised for strong economic growth. By 2026, India's own semiconductor consumption is predicted to reach 80 billion dollars, and by 2030, it will reach 110 billion dollars.”

Fourth, “India has implemented a wide range of reforms to improve the ease of doing business in the country," PM Modi said. The Prime Minister mentioned measures such as the elimination of over 25,000 compliances, a push for license auto-renewal, regulatory transparency and speed through digitisation, and one of the most favourable taxation frameworks in the world. 

The fifth reason, the Prime Minister explained was the significant investment in enabling and training young Indians to meet the demands of the 21st century. "We have a world-class semiconductor design talent pool, with up to 20% of the world's semiconductor design engineers working for us. Nearly every top 25 semiconductor design company has a design or R&D centre in our country," PM Modi said.

The sixth reason, PM Modi said, was that India has taken numerous steps to improve its industrial sector. "At a time when humanity was facing a once-in-a-generation pandemic, India was improving not only our people's health but also our economy's health," he said.

Prime Minister Modi, noting the emergence of new world order, urged people to seize opportunities. "Over the last few years, we've worked hard to build an environment that promotes growth. India has a strong desire for technology and is willing to take risks. We've stacked the deck in your favour as much as possible with a favourable policy framework,” PM Modi concluded. 

PM Modi inaugurates Global Patidar Business Summit

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also inaugurated the Global Patidar Business Summit (GPBS) being organised virtually by Sardardham in Gujarat’s Surat. The summit is being organised under "Mission 2026" to provide an impetus to the socio-economic development of the community.

The theme of the Global Patidar Business Summit 2022 is “Aatmanirbhar Community to Aatmanirbhar Gujarat and India”.

Sardardham’s Global Patidar Business Summit 2022 aims to bring all enterprises, irrespective of their sizes, within a community and provide timely support to new entrepreneurs and nurture them by providing training and employment assistance.