Global subsidy race puts a spanner in India semicon works

The Indian government is keen to woo major semiconductor players, but a global race to attract them to countries where there is already an ecosystem is making it difficult for India to attract the biggies in the business.

- SURAJEET DAS GUPTA

On Wednesday the government decided to throw open the doors to more players to participate in its semiconductor scheme. It is now looking at not only 28 nanometre (nm) chips and below, but higher nodes like 40 nm. It is also open to existing participants in the scheme applying again.

Meanwhile, the US, the EU, South Korea, Japan, among others, are spending an estimated $200 billion on subsidies to encourage companies to set up fab plants and other semiconductor downstreams in their countries. And they already have a vibrant semiconductor ecosystem and supply chain in place. India is new to business, and is entering the space at a time when countries that faced a huge shortage of chips during the pandemic are racing to reduce their dependence on foreign countries.