India Closer to Semiconductor Fabrication than Ever Before: MeitY

SemiconductorIndia is fast approaching the over two-decade-old dream of having semiconductor fabrication units in the country. Bullish about having fabrication units along with the semiconductor ecosystem in India in the next five years, the government is committed to making very strong policy efforts to make it happen.

“Some of these policies for the policy measures have already been taken, some of them I am not at the liberty to disclose at this time. But I can assure you that going into next year, we’ll see the support that has not been there earlier. We will look at a new chapter in electronic manufacturing through Atmanirbhar Bharat,” said Saurabh Gaur, IAS, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY), while speaking at the 16th edition of IESA’s Vision Summit.

The summit is said to be India’s gateway to the global Electronics Systems Design & Manufacturing (ESDM) ecosystem. This decade is believed to be the defining one for India’s ESDM industry, which will contribute to about 20 percent of India’s projected $5 trillion economies and is poised to play a significant part in GDP and employment growth.

While India is still years away from semiconductor fabrication, a lot of global companies already have their design houses in the country, with India contributing to almost 20 percent of global design capabilities.

“We, in the ministry, dream India of holding IP and design capabilities. So while Indians work in global companies and contribute to the growth of industry, Indian companies should also emerge in the design segment,” Gaur added.

MeitY has been working very closely with IESA and is looking at at least 20 companies to have a turnover of more than Rs 1,500-2,000 crore in the electronic design segment.

Gaur further highlighted that electronics manufacturing will almost be a $150 billion industry in another 4-5 years, and coupled with other sectors, it will make a trillion-dollar digital economy.

“Our semiconductor content is going to be almost $65-70 billion, which will be 10 percent of global demand for semiconductors in 4-5 years. So I think the time is right. We are looking at, based on the responses that we received, interest in the analog fab, interest in the application for automotive, sensors, and power management for radiofrequency devices, amongst others. With 5G coming in and EV proliferation happening, the semiconductor demand is going to pick up. There is a huge domestic market to cater, around $70 billion (in) five years from now, and we have to get started today,” Gaur said.

Currently, India manufactures almost $75 billion worth of electronics in the country. The value addition in the country presently is at 15 percent for smartphones and around 40-50 percent for white goods. However, there are certain categories, such as IT hardware, where value addition is probably much lower.

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