Semiconductor manufacturing giant Intel has expressed interest in setting up a new plant in India and is likely to apply for incentives under the new scheme to promote manufacturing for development of sustainable semiconductor and display ecosystem, sources in know of the development said. The new unit, sources said, could be set up for development and fabrication of test chips on Intel 18A, which is among the newest technologies developed by the company.
Intel did not respond to queries asking its confirmation on whether it had indeed applied for setting up a new plant and whether the new plant would involve work on 18A chipsets. Earlier in the day, following a tweet by Randhir Thakur, a senior vice-president and president of Intel Foundry Services, Minister for Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) Ashwini Vaishnaw welcomed the company to India by tweeting “Intel- welcome to India”.Vaishnaw’s reply came to a tweet by Thakur in which the latter congratulated MeitY, Vaishnaw and Minister of State for MeitY Rajeev Chandrasekhar for the new scheme which envisages to set up new units for domestic production of high end semiconductor fab and fabless chips, among other newer hardware.
“Congrats to @GoI_MeitY @AshwiniVaishnaw @Rajeev_GoI for Semiconductor design & manufacturing incentives for India as hub for electronics & semiconductors. Glad to see a plan laid out for all aspects of the supply chain: talent, design, manufacturing, test, packaging & logistics,” Thakur had tweeted.
In an interview to The Indian Express earlier this month, Vaishnaw had said that new scheme for domestic manufacturing of semiconductor wafer fabrication facilities was significantly different from the older schemes as the country had now the capacity to consume the new chips being manufactured.Chipset maker, Intel, is planning to set up its semiconductor manufacturing unit in India. The US-based chipset giant announcement came in the back drop of recent Union Cabinet’s decision on semiconductors that will encourage research and innovation in the sector and also boost manufacturing, strengthening the 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat' programme. The Minister for IT and Electronics, Ashwini Vaishnaw, welcomed Intel to India by tweeting. He wrote, “Intel - welcome to India." The Union Cabinet approved a ₹76,000-crore policy boost for semiconductor and display manufacturing ecosystem in the country in a bid to position India as a global hub for hi-tech production.
Announcing the decision of the Cabinet, Ashwini Vaishnaw observed that electronics plays an important role in everyday life, and semiconductor chips forms a crucial part of electronics.The scheme is expected to usher in a new era in electronics manufacturing by providing a globally competitive incentive package to companies in semiconductors and display manufacturing as well as design. It will strengthen India's technological prowess in these areas of strategic importance and economic self-reliance.
The programme will give an impetus to semiconductor and display manufacturing by facilitating capital support and technological collaborations.
The government has lined up an attractive incentive support for companies engaged in silicon semiconductor fabs, display fabs, compound semiconductors, silicon photonics, sensors fabs, semiconductor packaging and semiconductor designThe scheme for setting up of semiconductor fabs and display fabs in India will extend fiscal support of up to 50 per cent of project cost to eligible applicants.The Centre will work closely with the state governments on high-tech clusters with requisite infrastructure in terms of land, semiconductor grade water, power, logistics and research ecosystem, to approve applications for setting up at least two greenfield semiconductor fabs and two display fabs in the country.
The Ministry of Electronics and IT will take requisite steps for modernisation and commercialisation of semi-conductor laboratory (SCL). The IT Ministry will explore the possibility for the Joint Venture of SCL with a commercial fab partner to modernise the brownfield fab facility.
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