Global chip giants eye India presence

Announcements in this regard are likely to happen soon

- Gulveen Aulakh

Major global semiconductor companies have evinced interest in India’s ambitious semiconductor programme and are likely to formally express interest in the near future, people familiar with the developments said. Announcements in this regard could come as soon as next week, they added.

This will likely widen the field in terms of contenders for more than $10 billion in federal and state subsidies, apart from other benefits, that India has announced to attract semiconductor manufacturing. While three contenders are part of an ongoing evaluation process, the window that was deemed to have closed to be eligible will likely be opened again.

The government’s efforts to attract global semiconductor companies have yielded results, with the minister of communications and information technology, Ashwini Vaishnaw, who returned after spending three days in Silicon Valley and met with more than 60 companies in the semiconductor space, saying he saw huge interest.

“There’s huge confidence about India’s semiconductor programme. We have received interest from a number of large players. The entire ecosystem wants to come to India," Vaishnaw, who is also the railways minister, said.