Uttar Pradesh to Get Semiconductor Facility: Union Minister

New Delhi, Sep 24 (PTI) Uttar Pradesh is all set to get a semiconductor manufacturing unit, Union Minister Jitin Prasada said on Tuesday.

The Minister of State for Commerce & Industry expressed confidence that the state will be among the few places to have such niche facilities.

Addressing the 21st Indo-US Economic Summit organized by the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce (IACC), the minister said that India is a major investment destination across sectors including semiconductors and within the country Uttar Pradesh is among the top states and would turn out to be the "growth engine of India" going ahead.

"We will start work on a semiconductor plant in Uttar Pradesh also. I am very confident that the state will be among the few places to have such niche facilities," Prasada said, while describing the development as ground-breaking.

The statement gains significance as it comes just days after India and the US agreed to set up a semiconductor fabrication plant in the country.

"The Prime Minister recently signed an MoU for chip manufacturing with the US. The focus is that these technologies will be more and more visible in the day-to-day life of people going ahead and its necessary that we understand these technologies a the earliest," he said, adding that semiconductors are key to the India's digital transformation goals.

He also emphasized on the government's focus of taking the benefit of technology to the length and breadth of the country and to the interior and rural areas.

Noting that convergence and partnership are key for the growth of semiconductor development, Prasada said: "The India-US partnership will have far reaching impact."

The state minister for commerce & industry said that cyber security is the need of the hour given the divergence of warfare from physical attacks to the cyber space.

On the macroeconomic growth of India, the minister said the growth trajectory of India is resilient with the fundamentals being sound and strong.

"India is marching ahead towards its goal with great pace," he said. On the Indo-US bilateral ties, Prasada said that the partnership has now turned equal with both nations mutually benefiting from the partnership.