Electronics and IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Wednesday said that it would take about 3-4 months for the government to launch the next leg of the semiconductor incentive scheme. In a media interaction, the minister said the scheme will be an expanded version of Semicon 1.0 and will cover the entire value chain from materials, ingots and wafers to fabs and chip assembly units. Excerpts:
Q. What are the priority areas for the Semicon 2.0?
A. We had promised that it would take about 18 to 24 months for the first phase to be done and we are very well within our promise. The priority areas are – developing the entire ecosystem, which includes equipment, specialised materials, specialised chemicals and gasses. With the experience of the first phase of the semiconductor scheme, our conviction is strong that we now have to bring the complete ecosystem. There are also very good proposals among those in evaluation stage and we will soon take them to the Cabinet.
Q. Currently, we have a Rs 76,000-crore outlay scheme. What shape and form can we expect the new semicon scheme to be?
A. At the moment, it won’t be right to comment on the shape and form of Semicon 2.0. We still need to work for 2-3 months. We have followed a detailed consultation process. We have consulted extensively with almost every semiconductor ecosystem player.
Q. Is there any plan to go to lower nodes as well?
A. Close to 50% of the semiconductor market is for 28 nanometer (nm) plus in value terms. In volume terms, 28 nm market is more than 50% of the market. There is a double digit growth in the over 28 nm segment. This is because these chips are being used in electric vehicles, telecom, etc. In mobile phones, you will see a 5 nm chip and 180 nm chip as well. Now, the semiconductor industry has realised that we need 5 nm, 28 nm+, and 180 nm as well. The way the market is evolving, every chip technology is needed.
From: financialexpress
Financial News
