Global chipmakers like ASML showing interest in India a major confidence signal, says Ashwini Vaishnaw

Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw

Global players like ASML, the Netherlands-based semiconductor equipment maker, and others wanting to deepen their collaboration with Indian companies gives a major confidence boost to the country’s chip ecosystem, said Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.

“In our recent Semicon (event), we have seen ASML joining our (mission)...it’s a big vote of confidence,” Vaishnaw said in an interview to Moneycontrol.

Earlier this month, ASML, an important supplier to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co and Samsung Electronics Co, made a pitch for business in India as the country seeks to make chips locally and reduce imports of the critical technology.

That is a shift from sentiments earlier.

During his interactions with industry stakeholders a few years ago, Vaishnaw said people “were (sceptical) about India's growth but now they are very clear about India's growth.”

“The world today looks at India as a major semiconductor destination taking shape because of the clear policies and because of the laser-sharp execution,” he added in the interview.

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Even as global players make a beeline to set up their base here in India and do business from the world’s fourth-largest economy, Vaishnaw is clear that the local ecosystem should be leveraged fully.

Going forward “we will be focusing significantly on developing the ecosystem further which means the equipment manufacturers are very very important for us. The equipment or the machines which go into manufacturing semiconductors, that capital equipment should be manufactured in India and designed in India,” the Minister said.

Drawing parallels with India’s steel industry, the minister said the semiconductor ecosystem will be the next engine of growth for job growth.

The steel industry is the foundational industry. If a country has that foundational industry, it can have an automobile market, can make trucks, can have bridges constructed and can also build houses, Vaishnaw said.

“Similarly, semiconductor is a foundational industry. If you have semiconductors, you can expand your automobile manufacturing, you can expand your consumer electronics manufacturing, your TV manufacturing, your appliances, your refrigerator and so on,” he said.

“Other countries have seen this benefit. Once that foundational industry is there, many other sectors get the multiplier benefit out of it,” the minister concluded.