India to make second foray into chip manufacturing as demand seen rising

Country's chip industry has another chance amid the global trend toward domestic semiconductor manufacturing.

The United States of America, on August 9, signed the Chips and Science Act to provide $52.7 billion in government support to domestic semiconductor companies. The European Union is working on a similar legislation. The Indian government in December 2021 approved a $10 billion (Rs 76,000 crore) package for the semiconductor industry.

The state incentive could mark the beginning of India’s second chance at developing a large-scale semiconductor industry. It held on its own against Asian countries in the late eighties, before a fire gutted the state-owned Semiconductor Complex Limited (SCL) in 1989.

India’s imports have surged since then as