Micron’s semiconductor plant groundbreaking ceremony a big milestone: MoS Chandrasekhar

Micron’s semiconductor assembly unit: Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar hailed the groundbreaking ceremony for Micron's semiconductor assembly and test plant as a significant milestone for India's digital economy growth. The event, set to commence construction in Gujarat with a total investment of $2.75 billion (Rs 22,540 crore), is expected to send a strong signal to prospective investors about India's potential in the semiconductor domain.

Micron, a prominent computer storage chip manufacturer, will invest up to $825 million in a phased setup of the plant, with the remaining funding sourced from the central and state governments.

"Micron’s groundbreaking ceremony sends a signal about the growth and evolution of the semiconductor ecosystem in India to other prospective investors. Broadly for the economy, the digital economy target of being 20 per cent of GDP and the growth of the digital economy and in particular the semiconductor ecosystem, tomorrow's groundbreaking is a big milestone," the Minister of State for Electronics and IT during a press conference was cited as saying by a PTI report.

Chandrasekhar underlined that more applications for semiconductor manufacturing in the country are in process. He expressed optimism that India, within the next decade, will achieve a level that many countries struggled to attain despite substantial financial investments.

Expanding the Design Linked Incentive scheme

Highlighting India's unique position in the semiconductor ecosystem, Chandrasekhar pointed out that esteemed semiconductor companies like Qualcomm and Nvidia, although lacking semiconductor manufacturing plants, hold higher valuations than wafer manufacturers.

To further bolster the tech sector, Chandrasekhar revealed plans to expand the Design Linked Incentive (DLI) scheme. 

"We are straddling both sides of the semiconductor ecosystem. We are now expanding the DLI (design linked incentive) scheme to include foreign companies that will partner with Indian startups to design in India," Chandrasekhar said.

Foreign companies participating in the DLI scheme will be eligible for grants if their intellectual property rights are registered in India.

The government is also considering the establishment of a GPU (graphics processing unit) cluster to bolster the development of artificial intelligence technology within the country, the minister added.

(With PTI inputs)