The government has cancelled the letter of intent granted to a consortium led by HSMC Technologies India to set up the country’s first electronic chip manufacturing plant, Parliament was informed yesterday.
In a recent report PTI stated that with this, the government is left with no proposal to set up any manufacturing plant for electronic chips, which are known as the heart of modern devices and considered to be of strategic importance in cyberspace.
Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology S S Ahluwalia, said in Lok Sabha that the government, on the recommendation of the empowered committee (EC) constituted for the purpose of setting up of Semiconductor Wafer Fabrication (FAB) manufacturing facilities in the country, cancelled the LoI issued to the consortium led by HSMC Technologies India Pvt Ltd on April 20, 2018.
He said the consortium could not submit the requisite documents as per the LoI, despite being provided extension of time on multiple occasions.
Ahluwalia further informed that the Government of Gujarat has informed that it is willing to support any investor intending to set up a chip fabrication facility. However, considering the investment required and technology-intensive nature of the industry, the State government does not intend to do it by itself.
He said the Centre has approved incentives for a project of Mundra Solar PV Ltd to set up a 1.2-GW solar photovoltaic modules manufacturing facility at Adani Ports Special Economic Zone in Gujarat with a proposed investment of ₹4,837 crore in three phases.
