Thursday, March 27, 2014: The Planning Commission (PC) has reportedly not approved the pitch to open a funding process for electronic semiconductor chip manufacturing units in India. The proposal was submitted by Walden International, a global venture capital firm, and is still in the scrutiny level after more than a year. It aims to assist start-ups by way of capital funding from both Walden and the government.
India is going through some significant loss in the domestic production of many electronics components and products, with rising imports. The country mostly imports semiconductors for approximately $7 billion, with an average annual rise of 22 per cent.
According to a NextBigWhat report, the proposal said that Walden International will invest $5-10 million (85 per cent depending on the approved project margin) as capital fund for electronics chip design start-ups in the country. In addition, the government will share the rest 15 per cent investment in the project. The pitch was made to the government more than a year ago.
It is reported that this delay has received criticism from many industry analysts who say if the government will sit on such opportune breaks, the country will not be able to achieve self sufficiency in electronic semiconductor manufacturing.
Walden International is a US-based VC firm that currently has more than $1.6 billion (Rs 6.72 billion) in committed capital. In India, it services centre on financing start-ups in communications, electronics or digital consumer, software & IT services, and semiconductors industry sectors. The company worked in India for a long time, but came back in 2008 after a gap five years.
