India’s Big Push For Small Chips: Union Government Invites Companies To Submit EoI By Jan 21 For Setting up Semiconductor Fabrication (FAB) Plants In India
In a move aimed at incentivising and attracting investment for setting up of chip manufacturing in India, the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) today issued an notice inviting Expression of Interest (EoI) for setting up / expansion of existing Semiconductor wafer / device fabrication (FAB) facilities in India or acquisition of Semiconductor FABs outside India.
The last date for submission of EoI proposal is Jan 31, 2021.
MeitY asked the interested firm to can indicate the kind of financial support desired from the Government of India, including Grant-in-Aid (GIA), Viability Gap Funding (VGF) in the form of Equity and / or Long-Term Interest Free Loan (LIFL), tax incentives, infrastructure support, etc.
While noting that electronics manufacturing in India has increased substantially over the last few years and has steadily moved up the value chain from Semi Knocked Down (SKD) to Completely Knocked Down (CKD) stage of manufacturing, the EoI said that the domestic value addition is estimated to be only in the range of 15% - 20% and growth in manufacturing so far has primarily driven by final assembly / Printed Circuit Board Assembly (PCBA) using imported components, sub-assemblies, parts, etc.
MeitY said that despite India building a thriving Fabless Design ecosystem robust it lacks a robust electronic components and semiconductor manufacturing ecosystem.
“ Government of India is keen to incentivize and attract investment in setting up of Semiconductor FABs in India. This assumes significance in view of the fact that India is poised to increase its share in global manufacturing of Mobile Phones, IT Hardware, Automotive Electronics, Industrial Electronics, Medical Electronics, IoT and other devices in the near future as it aspires to have USD 400Bn of electronics manufacturing by the year 2025.” the EOI document said.
MeitY also laid out the eligibility criteria for the interested players
Category A: Well established Integrated Device Manufacturers (IDMs) OR Foundries or Indian Company / Consortia with Indian Industry Partner
- Having state-of-art mainstream CMOS technology nodes for fabricating processors, memories, analog /digital / mixed signal Integrated Circuits.
- Desirous of setting up / expansion of existing Semiconductor FAB in India (preferably with a node size of 28nm or lower, wafer size of 300 mm and capacity of 30,000 WSPM or more
Category B: Well established Integrated Device Manufacturers(IDMs) OR Foundries OR Indian Company / Consortia with Indian Industry Partner
- Having state-of-art Compound Semiconductor based emerging technologies for fabricating High Frequency /High Power / Optoelectronics devices.
- Desirous of setting up / expansion of existing Semiconductor FAB in India preferably with wafer size of 200 mm or more
Category C: Indian Companies / Consortia interested in acquisition of Semiconductor FAB outside India
MeiTY has called for the interested parties to submit a Preliminary Project Report (PPR), proposed project location, operational details, technology specificiations, financial support desired from the Government of India.