To take forward the cooperation in the crucial sector of large-scale electronics manufacturing, a semiconductor-manufacturing team from Taiwan recently visited India. Led by Taiwanese officials, the delegation visited Chandigarh and Gujarat to identify suitable sites for setting-up manufacturing units. This 4-day exercise included a tour of Dholera smart city in Gujarat and the Semi-Conductor Laboratory (SCL) at Mohali.
At the meeting, the Indian authorities briefed the delegation members on GoI’s ₹76,000 crore-budgeted semiconductor mission (2021) which provides production-linked incentives (PLIs) for the entire supply chain.
An anonymous Indian official said, “India has business relations with Taiwan and, for example, there is a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the ministry of agriculture and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Centre of Taiwan for cooperation in agriculture, horticulture, animal husbandry, fisheries and food processing.” The official further said, “Taiwanese firms are welcome in India for both investments and technology transfers in sectors such as electronics, auto components and automobiles.”
Indo-Taiwan annual trade reaches around $7 billion, making it our 16th biggest trading partner. It is noteworthy that Taiwan gets naphtha, minerals, refined copper cathodes, ferrochromium, zinc, aluminium and pig iron from India while we import digital cameras, electronic integrated circuits, flat-rolled products of alloyed steel, machines’ accessories, polyvinyl chloride, solar cells, and voice transmission machines from Taiwan.
As Taiwan is crucial for the global semiconductor supply chain, India had held talks regarding a free trade agreement linked to the creation of a semiconductor manufacturing hub in the country. As a follow-up, four bilateral groups were set up that focused on creating a semiconductor hub, training highly specialised manpower needed for the industry, an investment agreement, and a free trade agreement. It must be noted that the world’s sixth-largest contract chipmaker, Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (PSMC) was also part of the delegation.
