Govt gets nearly $12 bn investment proposals under ISM 2.0: Vaishnaw

Companies across semiconductor equipment, materials, gases, chemicals, packaging and substrates have proposed investments to be made over the next two to three years

The government has received investment proposals of nearly $12 billion from companies in semiconductor equipment, materials, gases, chemicals, assembly, testing and packaging, and substrates under the second phase of the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM), Union Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said.

These investments are likely to be made by the companies over the next two to three years, Vaishnaw said at a press conference during the fifth edition of Semicon India.

The second phase of ISM, which was approved by the Union Cabinet in July this year with an outlay of ₹1.27 lakh crore, proposes to cover six key areas of semiconductor chip design, materials and equipment, advanced packaging, research and development, as well as talent development.

Under ISM 2.0, the government has proposed a grant-plus-equity structure for smaller startups seeking to design strategic and commercial chips in India, ensuring that the intellectual property rights for these products remain within the country.

For medium-sized or large domestic companies that wish to enter the strategic and commercial chip design space in the country, the government has proposed a co-investment or royalty-based funding and incentive payment structure.