GS Paper 3:
Topic Covered: Science and Technology- developments and their applications and effects in everyday life. Achievements of Indians in science & technology; indigenization of technology and developing new technology.
Context:
Government approved a ₹76,000 crore scheme to boost semiconductor and display manufacturing in the country, taking the total amount of incentives announced for the electronics sector to ₹2.30 lakh crore.
Details:
- Aim: “Development of sustainable semiconductor and display ecosystem in the country” is aimed at making India a global hub of electronic system design and manufacturing.
- Finance: The scheme would provide fiscal support of up to 50% of the project cost for setting up semiconductor and display fabrication units.
- Collaboration: Centre would work with the States to set up high-tech clusters with the necessary infrastructure such as land and semiconductor-grade water.
- India Semiconductor Mission: A specialised and independent ‘India Semiconductor Mission’ will be set up. It will act as the nodal agency for efficient and smooth implementation of the schemes on semiconductors and display ecosystem.
- “Chips to start-ups” programme: It would develop 85,000 well-trained engineers. Semiconductor designers would be given the opportunity to launch start-ups. The government would bear 50% of the expense under the design-linked incentive scheme.
Importance of the Programme:
- Strategic: Trusted sources of semiconductors and displays had strategic importance in the current geopolitical scenario and were “key to the security of critical information infrastructure”.
- Ensure the digital sovereignty of India: The approved programme will propel innovation and build domestic capacities
- Job Creation: It will also create highly skilled employment opportunities to harness the demographic dividend of the country,” .The entire programme would lead to 35,000 high-quality direct jobs and 1 lakh indirect employment.
- Potential for India: Electronics manufacturing in the country had increased to $75 billion over the past seven years and was expected to reach $300 billion in the next six years.
- Increase in FDI: The Programme will attract an investment of ₹1.67 lakh crore and lead to production worth ₹9.50 lakh crore.
Additional Information:
About the PLI scheme for Electronic Manufacturing:
Notified on April 1 as a part of the National Policy on Electronics.
It proposes a financial incentive to boost domestic manufacturing and attract large investments in the electronics value chain.
Key features of the scheme:
- The scheme shall extend an incentive of 4% to 6% on incremental sales (over base year) of goods manufactured in India and covered under target segments, to eligible companies, for a period of five (5) years with financial year (FY) 2019-20 considered as the base year for calculation of incentives.
- The Scheme is open for applications for a period of 4 months initially which may be extended.
- The Scheme will be implemented through a Nodal Agency which shall act as a Project Management Agency (PMA) and be responsible for providing secretarial, managerial and implementation support and carrying out other responsibilities as assigned by MeitY from time to time.
InstaLinks:
Prelims Link:
- What is India Semiconductor Mission?
- India’s Status in Semiconductor Design and manufacturing?
- Key proposals under the National Policy on Electronics.
- Production linked incentive scheme- when was it announced?
- Who will implement it?
Mains Link:
- Growing importance of Semiconductors or chips/integrated circuits (ICs) and China’s experience with the manufacturing and design of the same provides a strong case for focusing on chip designs in India. Comment. (250 words) Reference
Source: The Hindu
