India wants to become global leader in chip manufacturing in 5 years, says IT minister

India wants to be among the top five semiconductor manufacturers in the world in the next five years, said Ashwini Vaishnau, Minister of Electronics and Information Technology, Railways and Communications.

The chip industry “is a very complex market and global value chains and global supply chains are extremely complex in the current context,” Vaishnaw said on CNBC’s Street Signs Asia on Friday. “We think in the next five years we will be among the top five semiconductor nations in the world.”

As of December, Taiwan held about 46% of the world’s semiconductor foundry capacity, followed by China (26%), South Korea (12%), the US (6%) and Japan (2%), according to the market research firm TrendForce.

India stands to gain as more companies look to reduce their reliance on China as tensions between the US and China show no sign of ending anytime soon.

He said India sees itself as a “trusted value chain partner” for manufacturers of electronic devices, industrial and defense electronics, power electronics – “virtually any electronics manufacturer that requires semiconductors to be designed … and manufactured “.

“Some people call it ‘friendshoring.’ I call it ‘confidence building’ because there is global confidence in India,” Vaishnau said.

On Thursday, the American chip giant Qualcomm open a new design center in chennai. The facility will focus on wireless technology design and create 1,600 jobs in the country.

“We started investing in India before it became popular. We have been building a presence in India for over a decade now,” Qualcomm’s CEO told a CNBC affiliate CNBC TV-18. “Many of our chips are designed in India and this presence in India also creates opportunities for a number of Indian companies.”

Last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi opened three semiconductor plants. One of these plants is a joint venture between Tata Electronics and Taiwan’s Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. PSMC Chairman Frank Huang told the Economic times the goal is to create India’s first semiconductor chip by 2026

“Made in India, made in India chips will help create a strong and meaningful Indian presence in global value chains – making India a semi-hub for the world,” Union Minister Rajiv Chandrasekhar said in press release.

Vaishnaw didn’t seem fazed when asked about investors expressing concern that India is still behind in its semiconductor manufacturing game and has a lot of catching up to do.

The minister predicts that the global semiconductor sector will be worth a trillion dollars in the next seven years. due to the large talent pool and the country’s focus on increasing its manufacturing capabilities.

“This kind of growth will require nearly one million more semiconductor engineers. Where is the talent pool? Where is this ecosystem to deal with complexity of this scale? India has it,” he said.

“This is absolutely the right time to be in the semiconductor industry and we have very quickly earned the trust of the entire global industry,” the minister added.

Apple supplier Foxconn, known as Hon Hai Precision Industry, announced in November that it plans to invest more than $1.5 billion in India to meet its “operational needs”.

“Globally, all companies are looking at India as a natural destination for the next investment decision,” Vaishnau asserts, confirming recent reports that the government is reviewing semiconductor proposals totaling $21 billion.