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During his Independence Day address Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that ‘made in India’ semiconductor chips will be available in the market by the end of 2025. He also urged the country’s youth to develop indigenous technology platforms like social media.
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The Prime Minister said that the thought of having a semiconductor factory in India first began 50-60 years ago, but the plan was stuck in limbo, until the government started working on the semiconductor industry in mission mode, under which six chip plants are already under construction and four more have received the green light.
“No one can deny the fact that the 21st century is technology-driven… countries which excelled at technology reached the summit of development, their economic power reaching new heights. Talking of different dimensions of technology, I would like to draw your attention towards semiconductors. I’m not standing here at the Red Fort to criticise any past government, but the country’s young generation should know that 50-60 years ago, files started on semiconductors, with thoughts of having a factory. You will be surprised to know that semiconductors, which have become the strength of the world, files and thoughts related to the industry got stuck in limbo in India 50-60 years ago. The thought of semiconductors faced a feticide… we lost 50-60 years. Today, many countries have attained expertise in semiconductors and are showing their strength globally,” PM Modi said in his address.
“We have freed ourselves from that past burden and have furthered work on semiconductors on mission mode… Six units are in the offing, and four of them are soon coming out of the drawing board… By the end of this year, chips made in India, made by the people of India will be available,” he added.
Earlier this week, the Union Cabinet cleared four new semiconductor assembly and testing plants under its India Semiconductor Mission, which have a total financial outlay of Rs 4,594 crore. Two of these plants will come up in Odisha, and one each in Punjab and Andhra Pradesh. With these, the government is now offering financial incentives for the construction of a total of 10 chip-related factories, ranging from a fabrication plant to assembly and testing operations.
The two plants in Odisha include a Rs 2,066 crore assembly and testing (ATMP) facility being set up by SiCSem Pvt Ltd, which will produce silicon carbide-based diodes and MOSFETs, and another ATMP plant by 3D Glass Solutions Inc. worth Rs 1,943 crore. Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the second plant has investments from Intel, Lockheed Martin, and other VC and PE funds.
Advanced System in Package Technologies (ASIP) will set up a semiconductor manufacturing unit in Andhra Pradesh, and Continental Device (CDIL) will expand its discrete semiconductor manufacturing facility at Mohali, Punjab.
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Before these, the government has managed to attract six chip plants under its Rs 76,000 crore India Semiconductor Mission. This includes the Tata-PSMC fab, being built at a cost of roughly $11 billion, along with assembly and testing plants by US-based Micron Technology, the Tatas, Murugappa Group’s CG Power in partnership with Japan’s Renesas, Kaynes Semicon, and HCL-Foxconn.
The PM also said that India needs to develop its own indigenous technology solutions across sectors, the way it has set an example of its capabilities with the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), where over 50 per cent of the world’s real-time digital transactions now occur through India’s UPI system.
“Be it the creative world or social media, I urge all young people of the country to come forward to develop our own platform. Why should we be dependent on others? Why should India’s wealth go overseas?” the PM said.
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