In the case of India, reports have emerged of a joint venture between India’s Vedanta and Taiwan’s Foxconn to build a semiconductor fab in the Dholera Special Investment Region near Ahmedabad, Gujrat, although no official announcement has been made.
India has made efforts to diversify its semiconductor supply chain over the past few months. A global supply chain squeeze in 2021 exposed the vulnerability of many locations in accessing high-end semiconductors required for the development of emerging technology as well as legacy semiconductors required for the manufacture of white goods.
In January 2023, India’s Electronic and Semiconductor Association joined forces with the US Semiconductor Industry Association to form a task force to collaborate on the manufacture of semiconductors. In March 2023, reports emerged of the US and India cementing this strategic partnership in a memorandum of understanding to boost foreign direct investment (FDI) in semiconductors in India.
“It is simply too unattractive a proposition for one or more of the world’s leading semiconductor foundries or integrated device managers to consider, until India can turn crippling red tape into red carpets, upgrade its poor physical infrastructure and offer a far better-educated factory workforce,” he said.
While China, the US, Europe and Japan are all proceeding with policies to increase onshore production, leading global chip companies are not paying the same interest in India’s efforts to increase fab capacity, despite Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s $10bn (Rs825.66bn) in subsidy enticements, according to Orme