India made $3B worth of investment in semiconductor packaging in last 18 months: Rajeev Chandrasekhar

India has made investments worth $3 billion in the last 18 months in semiconductor packaging and memory modules, Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, said at YourStory's TechSparks 2023 in Delhi on Wednesday. 

“In the last 18 months, since the prime minister launched the programme (India Semiconductor Mission), we have gone gangbusters, we have made tremendous progress, surprising even someone like me who is an eternal optimist,” Chandrasekhar said.

“We have grown rapidly grown, we have made a $3 billion investment in semiconductor packaging and memory modules, and over 35 design startups have been funded that are designing the next-generation devices,” he added.

He added that the government is also launching a new programme for innovation in electronics manufacturing called the ‘Digital India Future Labs programme,’ which will support startups in electronics design. 

He further encouraged entrepreneurs to build startups in the electronics manufacturing and semiconductor industries as it offers a ‘huge’ opportunity.

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Chandrasekhar also said that the government is focused on becoming a ‘significant’ manufacturing hub for electronics and has set a target of manufacturing $300 billion worth of electronics by 2025-26. He said electronics are the second-most widely traded commodity in the world after petroleum, adding that the size of the market globally is $1.6 trillion. 

“Our neighbour to the north controls 70% of this market, and the world doesn’t like it anymore. I think that gives an opportunity to India to grow our own manufacturing and that is growing very strongly,” he added.

Chandrasekhar also mentioned that until 2014, approximately 80-84% of mobile phones were imported into India. However, the scenario has drastically shifted, with nearly all mobile phones now being assembled or manufactured within the country. He further emphasised the progress made by the country in exports of mobile phones.

“In 2014, there were no exports of this category (mobile phone). Last year alone, India has exported Rs 1 lakh crore worth smartphones of Apple and Samsung smartphones to the world, badged made in India or assembled in India. I think in electronics we are really moving strongly ahead in manufacturing,” he said.

Chandrasekhar also expressed his bullishness on AI (artificial intelligence) and said that he believes that the next wave of startups will be dominated by AI and electronics product design.

We think AI is simply the most important invention in recent times. We see AI as a kinetic enabler, a catalyst/force multiplier for our digital economy. The digital economy was 4.5% of our GDP in 2014 and 11% of our GDP today.