Context:
The Indian union cabinet, led by Prime Minister Modi, recently sanctioned Kaynes Semicon’s initiative to establish a semiconductor facility in Gujarat, involving an investment of INR 3,300 crore. This project marks the fifth semiconductor unit and the fourth assembly unit to obtain Cabinet consent. It was authorized as part of the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM), aiming to boost India’s capabilities in semiconductor manufacturing.
Relevance:
GS II: Government Policies and Intervention
Dimensions of the Article:
- Overview of the Chip Assembly Plant in Gujarat:
- What are Semiconductors?
- About India Semiconductor Mission
Overview of the Chip Assembly Plant in Gujarat:
The establishment of a new semiconductor manufacturing unit in Sanand, Gujarat by Kaynes Semicon Pvt Ltd represents a significant advancement in India’s push to strengthen its semiconductor production capabilities. Here are the key details:
Key Details
- The plant is located in Sanand, Gujarat, with an investment of ₹3,300 crore.
- The facility is set to produce 60 lakh chips per day.
- These chips will support a range of sectors including industrial, automotive, electric vehicles, consumer electronics, telecom, and mobile phones.
India’s Semiconductor Ambitions:
- India aims to position itself alongside major semiconductor producing regions like the United States, Taiwan, and South Korea.
- Strategic Developments:
- Tata Electronics Partnership: An $11 billion fabrication plant is being established in partnership with Taiwan’s Powerchip.
- Other Notable Investments: Additional investments include three chip assembly plants in collaboration with Tatas, US-based Micron Technology, and Murugappa Group’s CG Power with Japan’s Renesas.
- Further Proposals: A ₹78,000-crore fabrication plant by Israel’s Tower Semiconductor and a ₹4,000-crore assembly plant by Zoho are also in the pipeline.
What are Semiconductors?
- Any of a class of crystalline solids intermediate in electrical conductivity between a conductor and an insulator.
- Semiconductors are employed in the manufacture of various kinds of electronic devices, including diodes, transistors, and integrated circuits. Such devices have found wide application because of their compactness, reliability, power efficiency, and low cost.
- As discrete components, they have found use in power devices, optical sensors, and light emitters, including solid-state lasers.
About India Semiconductor Mission
- Under the administration of the Ministry of Electronics and IT, the ISM was launched in 2021 with a total budgetary commitment of Rs76,000 crore.
- It’s part of the country’s overall strategy for developing a sustainable semiconductor and display ecosystem.
- The program’s goal is to help companies invest in semiconductors, display production, and the design ecosystem.
- ISM will serve as the nodal agency for effective, coherent, and easy implementation of the schemes, and will be led by worldwide professionals in the Semiconductor and Display industry.
Vision:
- To build a vibrant semiconductor and display design and innovation ecosystem to enable India’s emergence as a global hub for electronics manufacturing and design.
Significance:
- ISM is critical for organising efforts to promote the semiconductor and display industries in a more systematic, focused, and comprehensive way.
- It will develop a long-term strategy for developing the country’s semiconductor and display production capabilities, as well as the semiconductor design ecosystem.
- Secure semiconductors and display supply chains, including raw materials, speciality chemicals, gases, and manufacturing equipment, will help to accelerate the adoption of trusted electronics.
- It will help the Indian semiconductor design sector flourish in multiple ways by providing necessary support in the form of EDA tools, foundry services, and other appropriate methods for early-stage businesses.
- It will also promote and facilitate indigenous Intellectual Property (IP) generation and encourage, enable and incentivize Transfer of Technologies (ToT).
- ISM will enable collaborations and partnership programs with national and international agencies, industries and institutions for catalyzing collaborative research, commercialization and skill development
-Source: Indian Express
