New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that India has an appetite for tech and risk-taking while the collective aim is to establish the nation as one of the key partners in global semi-conductor supply chains
PM Modi inaugurated the first Semicon India Conference via video conference and spoke on the theme of "Design and Manufacture in India, for the World: Catalysing India's Semiconductor Ecosystem" during the session.
The Semicon India Conference 2022 is aimed at taking forward the Prime Minister's vision of making India a leader in semiconductor design, manufacturing, and innovation.
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Speaking at the event, PM Modi mentioned that "it is our collective aim to establish India as one of the key partners in global semi-conductor supply chains. We want to work in this direction based on the principle of Hi-tech, high quality, and high reliability."
The Prime Minister listed six reasons for India being an "attractive investment destination" for Semi-conductor technologies.
"First, we are building the digital infrastructure to connect over 1.3 billion Indians. Second, we are paving the way for India to lead the next technology revolution. We are on our way to connect six hundred thousand villages with broadband. We are investing in developing capabilities in 5G, IoT, and clean energy technologies," he stated.
"Third, India is headed for robust economic growth. We have the world's fastest-growing Startup Ecosystem. New unicorns are coming up every few weeks. India's own consumption of Semi-conductors is expected to cross 80 billion Dollars by 2026 and 110 Billion Dollars by 2030," he stressed.
"Fourth, we have undertaken wide-ranging reforms for improving ease of doing business in India. Last year, we abolished more than 25,000 compliances and gave a push towards auto-renewal of licenses. Digitisation is also bringing speed and transparency to the regulatory framework. Fifth, we are investing heavily in skilling and training young Indians for the needs of the 21st century. We have an exceptional semi-conductor design talent pool which makes up to 20% of the world's semiconductor design engineers," he added.
Lastly, PM Modi said India has undertaken several measures toward transforming the Indian manufacturing sector, "At a time when humanity was fighting a once in a century pandemic, India was not only improving the health of our people but also the health of our economy."
The Prime Minister also emphasised that "India has the appetite for tech and risk-taking. We have put the odds in your favour as far as possible through a supportive policy environment. We have shown that India means business."
According to him, industries were ready to do their work but the government was like a "Not Gate" earlier. "When any input flows into the 'Not Gate', it gets negated," he said.
"So many needless compliances and no 'ease of doing business'. But, we understand that the government must be like the 'And Gate'. While the industry works hard, the government must work even harder," PM Modi mentioned.
Semicon India Conference 2022
The ministry of electronics and information technology has organised the event with the theme - 'Design and Manufacturing in India for the world: Making India a Semiconductor Nation'.
The conference is seen as the launchpad to kickstart India’s ambition of becoming the global semiconductor hub and nurturing the chip design and manufacturing ecosystem.
The ministry is expecting several MoUs to forge partnerships and cooperation in the semiconductor sector during the conference which is seen as the first in a series of roadshows organised by the ministry.
The discourse throughout the three days of the conference will focus on policy, talent, and the government’s role and efforts in creating a favourable growth environment.
The conclave will showcase innovation by startups, key projects undertaken by the academic institutions, ongoing microprocessor programs undertaken by the government, and the intellectual might of research and development in the sector, both by enterprise and the government.
Experts Expected To Attend The Event
Global Experts from the industry and academia involved in semiconductor design and manufacturing and leading representatives of the government will participate in the event.
Vinod Dham, founder of Indo-Us Venture Partners, Sanjay Mehrotra, President and CEO of Micron Technology; Randhir Thakur, President, Intel Foundry Services, Intel; and Nivruti Rai, Country Head, Intel India are expected to participate in the event.
The conference is being steered under the guidance of Ashwini Vaishnaw, Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology, Railways and Communication, and Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology and Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.