India’s Semicon Demand Likely To Cross $100 Bn By 2030: MeitY Secretary

India’s semiconductor demand will likely reach $100-110 Bn by 2030 from the current demand of $45–50 Bn, said Electronics and IT ministry (MeitY) secretary S Krishnan. 

The Centre is also planning to invest in five semiconductor companies of which four are OSAT (Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test) and one fab company, he said. It has already approved Kaynes Semicon, Tata Electronics, CG Power, Micron Technology and Suchi Semicon to set up their respective units in the country. 

Speaking about these companies at Nano Electronics Roadshow in Bengaluru, Krishnan said, “When they are at their peak production, the combined production of all these five companies is going to be $6-7 Bn, so we are still a very small proportion of the semiconductor output that we need for the country.”

Highlighting the need to meet international standards of production, the MeitY secretary said that some of the production will also get exported to establish that the products are “actually competitive and quality products that everyone wants to buy.” 

“We need to expand, we need to be bigger players, there is more investment that needs to take place,” he added. 

Nano Electronics Centres To Boost India’s Semicon Space 

Meity has established nano electronics centres at IISc (Indian Institute of Science) and IITs (Indian Institute of Technology) to drive India’s deep-tech developments, fostering breakthrough technologies and strategic advancements.

In line with that, the ministry hosted the Nano Electronics roadshow at IISC Bengaluru which showcased over 100 intellectual properties (IPs), more than 50 groundbreaking technologies, and innovation of over 35 startups backed by six state-of-the-art nanoelectronics centers across the country. 

During the event, Krishnan said that Meity’s nano centres are playing a critical role in boosting innovation and talent to prepare a semiconductor-ready workforce of 85,000 professionals in the country. 

He also added that the government is working to improve the design linked incentive schemes in the semiconductor space. “20% of the workforce in semiconductor design across the world is in India.”

The government is also working to ensure that the Intellectual property right for the products remain in India. 

India’s Semiconductor Mission 2.0

India is gearing up to launch the second phase of the India Semiconductor Mission.

The second phase of ISM will also potentially offer support for gases and other elements needed for semiconductor production.

On the current status of the first phase of the mission, which had a budgetary outlay of INR 76,000 Cr, Krishnan earlier had said that INR 65,000 Cr was earmarked for chip manufacturing and packaging units while the remaining INR 10,000 Cr and INR 1,000 Cr were set aside for modernising the semiconductor lab at Mohali and the design-linked incentive scheme respectively.

In 2021, the Centre launched the Semicon India programme, with an outlay of INR 76,000 Cr, to incentivise silicon semiconductor fabs, display fabs, compound semiconductors, and more. A year after that, ISM was introduced to establish India as a global hub for electronics manufacturing and design. 

As a result, the first “made-in-India” chip is to be rolled out from a commercial fab by September or October this year, said IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw last month. 

As per Inc42, India’s semiconductor space is expanding at a CAGR of 24% from 2023 to 2030. Some of the disruptors in the semiconductor industry are Mindgrove Technologies, Suchi Semicon, Netrasemi, Agnit Semiconductors, Incore, Aurasemi and others.