India preparing to become alternative chip supplier: PM Narendra Modi

ISM 2.0 will focus on six pillars, including chip design, machines and materials, fabrication, advanced packaging, R&D and talent development

India is readying itself to become the alternative supplier of semiconductor chips and solutions as the world looks to diversify its supply chains, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday.

“The world needs new and trusted locations for chip manufacturing and India is preparing itself for this,” Modi said during his inaugural address at the fifth edition of Semicon India being held here in the city.

The Centre has also received investment proposals worth nearly $12 billion from companies across the semiconductor ecosystem under the second phase of the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM 2.0), Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology (Meity) Ashwini Vaishnaw said at a press conference on Thursday. These investments are likely to be made by the companies over the next 2-3 years, he added.

The second phase of India’s semiconductor journey will move beyond policy decisions and announcements of construction of semiconductor chip fabrication and packaging units, Modi said, adding that soon chips made and packaged in India would be exported across the world.

Apart from the three chip packaging units — Micron Technology, Kaynes Semicon and CG Semi — that have already started commercial operations, Continental Device India’s (CDIL) Mohali unit and Suchi Semicon’s Gujarat unit also started commercial production from Thursday.