New Delhi: Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has claimed that in the 21st century, semiconductors will assume a similar position as steel did in the previous century. In an exclusive interview in MoneyControl, he characterised the semiconductor industry as a pillar of future expansion as an industry that can spearhead job creation in the automobiles, consumer electronics, telecom and defence sectors. He referred to it as the semiconductor-based industrial revolution of India.
The minister emphasised that today, there is an increase in the confidence that India is a quality place to invest in technology. Policies with good stability, good design capacity, talent and reputation of intellectual property rights are attracting world manufacturers to establish their operations in India. He further said that the government is working towards the creation of semiconductor manufacturing and the entire ecosystem, which includes chemicals, gases, and precision equipment.
GST reforms to boost consumption
Vaishnaw stated that the recent reduction in GST rates will significantly help the middle class and fuel demand. His reasoning was that soaring household savings will be born with both GST rationalisation and increased income tax relief, and consumption may also grow by at least 10 percent over the next few months. He thinks that the economy of Rs 330 lakh crore of India will be positively affected by this increase in expenses.
Securing IT jobs
On the issue of anti-outsourcing sentiment in the US, Vaishnaw stated that the government was continuously negotiating with international corporations and foreign governments so as to protect the IT services sector in India. He further stated that there is still a high level of exports of IT, but India is also diversifying as electronics manufacturing and export continue to grow fast.
Progress on India’s semiconductor mission
India is already the host to 10 active semiconductor projects with a cumulative value of $18 billion, with five of them being in construction. Vaishnaw emphasised the long-term perspective of the government in the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM 2.0), which aims at cultivating equipment production, securing the demand of fabs and nurturing the talent pool. He testified that the entry of world leader ASML in India is a vote of confidence.
AI and GPU push
The minister added that the AI mission in India has gained rapid momentum, and currently 40,000 GPUs can be provided to developers. There is also work on large language models trained on Indian languages, and Sarvam will probably be the first. Vaishnaw emphasised the strategy of India to integrate technology with the law in order to have safe AI utilisation.
Gaming industry and real money ban
Vaishnaw opined on the ban of real-money gaming that the government is promoting e-sports and social gaming and guaranteeing the middle classes against financial damages. He further said that negotiations with the industry are aimed at designing an ordered transition.
The minister admitted that the proportion of manufacturing to GDP has been stagnant at 15 percent, however, the government is reforming to focus on design, finished products and equipment production. He cited the successes in telecom, smartphones and electronics exports as a pointer to consistent progress. He also reported that concluding provisions to the Digital Personal Data Protection Act are almost complete and will very soon be released.