India Aims for 10 Semiconductor Fabs in 10 Years

New Delhi, Sep 9 (PTI) India aspires to have 10 semiconductor manufacturing plants in 10 years but the nature of support from the government may vary based on the development in the industry, a top official of the India Semiconductor Mission said on Monday.

While speaking at a joint presser of mobile devices industry body ICEA and Semicon India organiser Semi, Akash Tripathi said while setting up Indian Semiconductor Mission (ISM), it was envisioned to get two or three semiconductor manufacturing plants, two or three display fabs and various compound semiconductors.

"We will always be engaged with the industry but the nature of engagements may differ. 10 years down the line there will be projects that will be operational, producing semiconductors, the ecosystem will be developed, then things will be different. Aspiration-wise, we would like to have 10 fabs," Tripathi said.

The government has received 20 proposals for setting up semiconductor units including the chip packaging plants.

Tripathi said that all the proposals are at different stages of approval. He said that the government has approved five projects entailing investment of Rs 1.52 lakh crore.

Tripathi said that Micron's pilot facility has started rolling out chips from May onward which is almost six months before the committed timeline of December 2024.

Semi President and CEO Ajit Manocha said that every job created in a fab will lead to creation of five jobs in supporting units.

He said that it took 60 to 70 years for the semiconductor industry to get to USD 600 billion in revenue and in the next seven years it is going to nearly double to USD 1 trillion.

"With chip shortages (during the pandemic), we were shut down in many areas. We can't afford that kind of disruption anymore. With that industry doubling in size, where do you want to put the growth. Yes, the same regions will grow, but we need more hubs to grow. India has the ingredients of success, I don't think we can ask for any better place than India," Manocha said.

He said that other countries see the benefit of India and the need for India to step up.

"The participation in the upcoming Semicon India is four-five times more than we anticipated. More than 250 companies from 24 different countries are participating in Semicon India 2024," Manocha said.

India will host the first global semiconductor industry event, Semicon India 2024, from September 11 to 13.

ICEA chairman Pankaj Mohindroo said that the mobile phone industry in India will consume the storage chips that will be made in India.