Cabinet reconstitutes panel on semiconductor units

New Delhi: The Union cabinet on Wednesday reconstituted an empowered committee on setting up semiconductor wafer fabrication manufacturing facilities in the country.

The committee chaired by NITI Aayog member V.K. Saraswat will include K. Radhakrishnan, former chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation, M.J. Zarabi, former chairman and managing director of Semiconductor Complex Ltd, Narendra Krishna Karmarkar, visiting professor, IIT-Bombay, Ratan P. Watal, secretary, department of expenditure, Amitabh Kant, secretary, department of industrial policy and promotion and R.S. Sharma, secretary, department of electronics and information technology.

The previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government had formed a panel in 2011 to identify technology and investors and recommend incentives for semiconductor manufacturing. The committee submitted its recommendations in March 2013. In September, the government approved the setting up of two such units. The units will attract about Rs.63,000 crore in investments, according to a press statement issued in February 2014.

Jaiprakash Associates Ltd is teaming up with International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) and Israel-based TowerJazz to set up a Rs.29,000 crore unit in Greater Noida. Hindustan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp., in partnership with French-Italian electronics and semiconductor maker STMicroelectronics (STM) and Malaysia-based wafer manufacturer Silterra, wants to set up a Rs.34,000 crore facility in Prantij near Gandhinagar. These facilities are expected to start producing wafers two-and-a-half years after ground breaking.

“The setting up of Semiconductor Wafer Fabrication units is a critical pillar required to promote Electronics System Design and Manufacturing in India which will stimulate the flow of capital and technology, create employment opportunities, help higher value addition in the electronic products manufactured in India, reduce dependence on imports, and lead to innovation,” said a statement issued by the government.

In addition to the approved members, the committee may co-opt other experts, the statement added.

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