Akash Tripathi, ISM’s CEO, revealed the upcoming incentive package at a press conference, noting that the new incentives will even cover component manufacturers - something new in India’s semiconductor policy. Tripathi highlighted that 20 new proposals, including plans for full-scale fabrication plants, assembly, testing, and packaging facilities, are under evaluation, with plans to support the industry for the next decade.
India’s semiconductor sector is set for significant growth as the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) gears up to launch a new incentive package to attract global chipmakers, packagers, testers, and component suppliers. This move comes on the same day ISM, under the Union Electronics and IT Ministry, announced its partnership with the US Department of State to expand the global semiconductor ecosystem. The collaboration, aimed at strengthening key sectors like defense and consumer electronics, underscores India’s growing role in the semiconductor industry.
The US partnership, part of the International Technology Security and Innovation (ITSI) fund, will involve a joint survey of semiconductor ecosystems in both countries. Additionally, discussions are underway to modernize India’s only operational chip fabrication unit, the Semi-Conductor Laboratory (SCL).
This isn’t India’s first foray into chipmaking. Back in 2021, a USD 10 billion incentive program got the ball rolling, including the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme. Since then, major players like Tata Electronics and Taiwan’s Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (PSMC) have jumped in, with their USD 11-billion chip fab plant already in the pipeline. ISM has also greenlit four outsourced semiconductor assembly and testing (OSAT) facilities, and there’s even a partnership between China’s Foxconn and Noida-based HCL Technologies in the works. There is also a USD 10-billion chip plant in Maharashtra backed by Israel’s Tower Semiconductor.
