India's iPhone exports reached a new record of INR 10,000 crore in May, boosting the country's smartphone exports to INR 12,000 crore for the month. The Indian government aims to use Apple's success in the country to encourage more US firms, such as Tesla, to shift their supply chains to India. Smartphone exports surpassed INR 20,000 crore in the first two months of the 2021-22 fiscal year compared to INR 9,066 crore for the same period the previous year.
Amid India’s push to woo chipmakers to India, several semiconductor makers are in talks to set up assembly and packaging facilities in the country. Besides semiconductors, the government is also looking to attract investments for electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing.
Raghuram Rajan argued that value addition is low in the smartphone PLI scheme as it is basically only about assembling, and not deep manufacturing. Besides, imports exceed exports, he said. Not even the smallest parts of mobile phones are being made in India, he pointed out.
The Chinese companies have also been asked to appoint Indian executives in key roles such as chief executive officer, chief operating officer, chief financial officer and chief technical officer, said the three people cited above.
India has almost everything needed to have a successful semiconductor industry but needs to work towards re-establishing credibility, said Ajit Manocha, president and CEO of Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI). The Rs 76,000-crore ($10bn) incentive scheme for chip-making, the talent pool and skilling programmes play to India's strengths and mark the country's rise as an industry leader, he said. The country is expected to have 100 semiconductor design start-ups by 2024. The US can play a key role in helping India build its semiconductor industry, Manocha added.
The full name of the scheme is "Modified Scheme for setting up of Compound Semiconductors, Silicon Photonics, Sensors Fab, Discrete Semiconductors Fab and Semiconductor ATMP, OSAT facilities in India". According to a statement cited by PTI, the application window for the modified scheme will be open till December 2024.
The government hopes that with the window being reopened, there would be renewed interest from memory chip makers, packaging units, processors and compound semiconductor fabrication units. In December 2021, the government had announced an incentive scheme of ₹76,000 crore to encourage the setting up of a semiconductor manufacturing and fabrication ecosystem in India.
The window for applicants will be open from June 1 and will be kept open till the appropriate resources are there and the government gets good applications, MoS Rajeev Chandrasekhar
India will start accepting and considering new applications for semiconductor fabrication plants from new and existing applicants. There are expectations that some current applicants will reapply and new investors will apply, Rajeev Chandrashekhar tweeted.
