NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday pitched India as one of the most promising destinations for semiconductor manufacturing, saying "the world trusts India, the world believes in India, and the world is ready to build semiconductor future with India".
Addressing the inaugural session of Semicon India conference, PM said from being a back-end support destination in the high-tech industry, India is fast emerging as a key player on the back of investments of around Rs 1.5 lakh crore, as global and local companies build and expand operations across the value chain.
"Our journey began late but nothing can stop us now... India is now moving from backend to becoming a full-stack semiconductor nation. The day is not far when India's smallest chip will drive the world's biggest change... The day is not far when the whole world will say - Designed in India, Made in India, Trusted by the World."
Without mentioning US tariffs or Trump's "dead economy" jibe, Modi said the Indian economy has been growing at a rapid pace, despite challenges arising out of "economic selfishness". "Once again India has performed better than every hope, every expectation, every assessment. On one hand, when there are concerns in economies across the world and there are challenges arising out of economic selfishness, in that environment India has achieved a growth of 7.8%... This is the direction of growth, which is sure to move rapidly towards making India the third-largest economy."
He said as the semiconductor industry witnesses rapid growth across the world and moves on to emerge as a trillion-dollar business, India will have a significant share in that. "There is a saying in the world of semiconductors, oil was black gold, but chips are digital diamonds... But power of the 21st century has been confined to a tiny chip. These chips may be small, but they have the power to give a big boost to the world's progress... And I believe, with the speed at which India is progressing in the semiconductor sector, India is going to have a significant share in this one trillion market."
Modi said India is also in the process of working out fresh reforms, while making it easier for the companies to invest in the semiconductor business. "In the coming times, we are going to start a new phase of next-generation reforms. We are also working on the next phase of the India Semiconductor Mission."
He also said govt wants to provide regulatory ease to companies as they expand. "You know, speed matters in semiconductors. The lesser the time from file to factory, the lesser the paperwork, the sooner the wafer work can start. Our govt is working with this same approach... This has freed our investors from a lot of paperwork. Today, semiconductor parks are being built across the country on a plug and play infrastructure model. "