Approval to semiconductor chip makers likely in 6-8 months: Ashwini Vaishnaw

BENGALURU: The government expects to grant approvals to electronic chip makers in the next 6-8 months as it looks to encourage domestic manufacturing of semiconductors, union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Friday.

Speaking at the Semicon India-2022 conference here, Vaishnaw said it will be done in "the next 6-8 months".

Minister of state for electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar said at the conference that the Indian Semiconductor Mission is evaluating the process and the approvals will come after the due diligence is done.

The government has received proposals from five companies for setting up the electronic chip and display manufacturing plants with an investment of Rs 1.53 lakh crore.

Vedanta Foxconn JV, IGSS Ventures, ISMC propose to set-up electronic chip manufacturing plants with USD 13.6 billion investment and have sought support of USD 5.6 billion from the Centre under the Rs 76,000 crore Semicon India Programme.

Vedanta and Elest have proposed to set up display manufacturing units -- used in mobile phones, laptops etc -- with a projected investment of USD 6.7 billion. They have sought the support of USD 2.7 billion from the Centre under the scheme for setting up display fabs in India, the statement said.

The government expects investments of around Rs 1.7 lakh crore and 1.35 lakh jobs to be created in the next four years under the incentive scheme for semiconductors approved by the Cabinet.

Besides electronic chip and display plants, four companies -- SPEL Semiconductor, HCL, Syrma Technology and Velankani Electronics -- have registered for semiconductor packaging.

Ruttonsha International Rectifier has registered for compound semiconductors.

Three companies -- Terminus Circuits, Trispace Technologies and Curie Microelectronics -- have submitted applications under the Design-Linked Incentive Scheme.

The government will negotiate the structure and quantum of fiscal support with the applicants.

The fiscal support under the scheme shall be provided on a pari-passu basis for a period of six years from the date of approval.

Apart from fiscal support, semiconductor fabs set up in India will be supported through purchase preference in the procurement of electronic products by the government under the Public Procurement (Preference to Make in India) Order.