The ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY) on Wednesday formed an advisory committee for the country’s semiconductor mission. The 17-member committee of experts, comprises senior government officials, academicians as well as industry and domain experts.
The Union Cabinet, in December, had approved a comprehensive Semicon India programme with a total outlay of Rs 76,000 crore for the development of semiconductor and display manufacturing ecosystem in the country. The programme aims to provide financial support to companies investing in semiconductors, display manufacturing and design ecosystem. This will serve to pave the way for India’s growing presence in the global electronics value chains. A specialised and dedicated ‘India Semiconductor Mission (ISM)’ has been set up within Digital India Corporation to drive India’s strategies for developing semiconductors and display ecosystem.
The newly formed advisory committee shall steer the objectives in a structured, efficient, and strategic manner, and provide necessary guidance to the ISM executives. It shall also provide insights and suggestions to develop a sustainable semiconductor and display ecosystem in India. The committee is mandated to provide key inputs for building a resilient supply chain, promoting investments, financing mechanisms, global engagement, research & innovation, and IP generation for the semiconductors and display ecosystem and enable an ecosystem to support startups and MSMEs.
The advisory committee will be chaired by minister of electronics and IT Ashwini Vaishnaw, with MoS, ministry of electronics and IT (MeitY), Rajeev Chandrasekhar as the vice-chairperson. Secretary, MeitY shall be the convenor of the advisory committee.
Other members of the committee include VK Saraswat, member, Niti Aayog; principal scientific adviser; secretary, ministry of external affairs; secretary, department of expenditure; secretary, department of economic affairs; secretary, department for promotion of industry and internal trade; deputy NSA and National Security Council Secretariat.
Industry people included in the committee are Vinod Dham, founder & ex managing partner at Indo-US Venture Partners; Ajit Manocha, president SEMI, USA; Neelkanth Mishra, Credit Suisse; Prof A Paulraj, emeritus professor at Stanford University, USA; Prof Pradeep Khosla, chancellor, University of California San Diego, USA; Prof V Kamakoti, director, IIT Madras and Ajai Chowdhry, founder of HCL.
