Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Punjab have shown interest in facilitating semiconductor units: Government

States such as Karnataka, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Tripura, Punjab and the union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu have shown interest in facilitating the setting up of semiconductor chip manufacturing facilities, the minister of State for electronics and information technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar said.

In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Chandrasekhar said that these states had also indicated the availability of stable power supply and sufficient water supply for chip manufacturing facilities.

“Setting up of semiconductor unit requires huge investments and necessitates suitable infrastructure like availability of uninterrupted power and clean water. Further, semiconductors manufacturing is a very complex and technology-intensive sector with huge capital investments, high risk, long gestation and payback periods, and rapid changes in technology which requires significant and sustained investments,” Chandrasekhar said.

The decision to set up a manufacturing facility lies only with companies which have announced proposals to set up semiconductor fabrication units in India, the minister of state said in his reply.

Five applicants are in the running for government incentives under the$10-billion package announced in December 2021 to incentivise semiconductor manufacturing in the country.

This includes three proposals for chip manufacturing, including by the International Semiconductor Consortium (ISMC) consortium led by Abu-Dhabi-based Next Orbit Ventures.

The other two applicants are Singapore-based IGSS Ventures and the Vedanta-Foxconn combine. Rajesh Exports and Vedanta-Foxconn are proposing to set up display fabrication units in India.