India Will Continue To Support Semiconductor Industry At Every Step: PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi told top executives of semiconductor companies that India will continue to support the semiconductor industry at “every step”.

Chairing the semiconductor executives’ roundtable at his residence in New Delhi on Tuesday (September 10), PM Modi assured that the Indian government will follow a predictable and stable policy regime.

The meeting was attended by the CEOs and representatives of multiple semiconductor companies, including Micron, NXP, PSMC, IMEC, Renesas, among others. 

Noting that India has the capability to become a trusted partner in a diversified semiconductor supply chain, PM Modi said that reducing compliance burden and attracting investment are the foundational pillars of the Centre’s semiconductor policy. 

He also said that the Centre is focussed on skilling India’s talent pool to ensure that trained workforce is available for the semiconductor industry. 

Reiterating the country’s razor sharp focus on developing globally competitive products, PM Modi touted India as a “great market” for investing in high tech infrastructure. 

Calling semiconductors as the basis of the “Digital Age”, PM Modi asserted that the “coming time will be technology-driven”. He added that the semiconductor industry will soon become the bedrock for even “basic necessities”.

Meanwhile, as per a government statement, the executives lauded India’s commitment to the growth of the semiconductor sector and the immense scope of the industry in the country. 

The development came on the same day as reports surfaced that the Centre is mulling expanding the scope of the INR 76,000 Cr India Semiconductor Mission (ISM). Just a day ago, the US state department said that it will collaborate with the ISM to identify potential future joint initiatives to diversify the global semiconductor value chain. 

The meeting took place a day before executives and academics from all around the world gather for the three-day SEMICON India 2024 summit in Delhi NCR. 

That said, the regulatory push comes at a time when the Indian semiconductor space is witnessing back-to-back developments. Earlier this week, Tata Electronics signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Tokyo Electron Limited (TEL) for building  semiconductor equipment infrastructure. 

Construction conglomerate L&T’s semiconductor arm also signed a pact with tech major IBM today to design advanced processors. 

At the heart of all this is the growing Indian semiconductor ecosystem, which, as per Inc42, is projected to reach a market size of $150 Bn by 2030.