Industry honchos see India as semiconductor powerhouse in Asia

Gandhinagar: Mark Papermaster, executive vice president and chief technology officer of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD), announced that the American multinational semiconductor company will invest approximately 400 million dollars in India in the next 5 years. He said AMD will enhance its research and development capabilities. “We will build our largest design centre in Bengaluru”, he said during SemiconIndia 2023, which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi here today.

Industry leaders from some of the top global semiconductor brands including Micron and Foxconn met Prime Minister Modi during the conference, which has the theme ‘Catalysing India’s Semiconductor’, here today.

Ajit Minocha, CEO of SEMI, the Milpitas, California, headquartered global industry association serving the electronics manufacturing and design supply chain, predicted India to be the next powerhouse in semiconductors in Asia. He noted that for the first time in India’s history, geopolitics, domestic politics and private secret capacities were aligned in India’s favour to become a player in semiconductor production. According to him investment by Micron is making history in India and will set the stage for others to follow.

Sanjay Mehrotra, President and CEO of Micron Technology expressed pride in the setting up of a semiconductor assembly and test facility for memory in the state of Gujarat and said that this project is going to create nearly 5,000 jobs along with 15,000 additional jobs within the community in the coming years. He thanked both the Central and State Governments for their support in setting up the semiconductor industry in the state.  “Digital India and Make in India are creating a truly transformative energy that will continue to drive positive progress,” he said.

Young Liu, Chairman of Foxconn highlighted the buffalo spirit of the Taiwan Semiconductor Industry, which is the ability to work hard without complaining and said that the same spirit can be applied in India. Referring to the high ‘say-do’ ratio of the Indian Government, Liu underlined the importance of trust and working together to overcome the challenges just like Taiwan did many years ago. He expressed confidence and optimism in the will and determination of the Indian Government to lead the semiconductor industry. “IT stands for India and Taiwan”,  Liu said quoting the Prime Minister and assuring that Taiwan will be India’s most trusted and reliable partner in the semiconductor industry.

Anil Aggrawal, Chairman of Vedanta Group, said that experts feel that Gujarat is the right place for the silicon valley of India.

Addressing the gathering, Prime Minister Modi emphasized that events like Semicon are like software updates where experts and industry leaders meet and share with each other. “It is important for the synchronization of our relationship,” he said.  He recalled his participation in the first edition of Semicon last year and highlighted the questions raised at the time about investing in India in the semiconductor industry. He underlined that the questions have transformed over a period of one year from ‘Why invest in India’ to ‘Why not invest in India’. “There has been a directional change due to the efforts of the industry leaders”, Modi said as he felicitated them for showing their belief in India. He said that the industry leaders have conjoined the aspirations and the capability of India with their own future and dreams. “India does not disappoint”, he exclaimed and underlined the abundance of opportunities in India of the 21st century and said that the country’s democracy, demography and dividend will double and triple the businesses in India.

Referring to Moore’s Law with exponential growth at its heart, he said “We are witnessing the same exponential growth in India’s digital and electronic manufacturing sector”. He informed that India’s share in global electronic manufacturing has increased manifold and has crossed 100 billion dollars today. While the export of electronics and mobile devices has doubled in the last 2 years. the number of mobile manufacturing units in India has gone beyond 200. He also informed that the number of broadband users in the country today stands at 80 crores while the number of internet connections is more than 85 crores today. Referring to these statistics, the Prime Minister emphasized that it not only signifies India’s progress but is also an indicator of growing businesses in the country. He highlighted the crucial role of India in the semicon industry’s target of exponential growth.

Modi expressed happiness about the growing global trust in India. “Investors trust India as it has a stable, responsible and reform-oriented government. The industry has faith in India as infrastructure is developing in every sector. The tech sector believes in India as technology is growing here. The Semiconductor Industry trusts India as we have a massive talent pool”, he said. “Skilled engineers and designers are our strength. Anyone who wants to be a part of the world’s most vibrant and unified market has faith in India. When we tell you to make in India, it also includes that let’s make for India, Make for the world”, he added.

Noting the crucial requirement of electricity for the semiconductor sector, the Prime Minister informed that  India’s solar power installed capacity has increased more than 20 times in the last decade and a new target of 500 GW of renewable energy capacity has been set to be achieved by the end of this decade. He also touched upon major steps taken for the production of solar PV modules, green hydrogen and electrolyzers. He underlined that the policy reforms taking place in India will have a positive impact on the construction of the semiconductor ecosystem. He also informed about the several tax exemptions that have come into effect for the new manufacturing industry and highlighted the lowest corporate tax rate in India, faceless and seamless taxation process, abolition of archaic laws, compliances to increase ease of doing business and special incentives for the semiconductor industry. Shri Modi stated that these decisions and policies are a reflection of the fact that India is rolling out red carpets for the semiconductor industry. “As India moves forward on the path of reform, new opportunities will be created. India is becoming an excellent conductor for semiconductor investments”, he added.

Chief Minister of Gujarat, Bhupendra Patel, Union Minister for Electronics & Information Technology, Ashwini Vaishnav, Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, CEO of Cadence, Anirudh Devgan, and President of Semiconductor Products Group AMAT, Prabhu Raja were also present on the occasion.

– global bihari bureau