Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw revealed on Thursday that Micron Technology, a semiconductor manufacturer establishing a plant in India, is scheduled to release its inaugural chip within the country by December 2024. Micron had disclosed its $825 million investment for a new assembly and test facility in Gujarat in June of the preceding year. Minister Vaishnaw highlighted that Micron’s announcement was made in June 2023, and the physical construction commenced in September 2023, underscoring the progress in India’s semiconductor initiatives.
“It’s how many days? 90 days, it’s a record for anywhere else in the world. This has given huge confidence,” Vaishnaw said while speaking to Business Today’s Executive Director Rahul Kanwal and Business Today TV’s Managing Editor Siddharth Zarabi on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos.
The minister reportedly said that he had panel discussions in Davos with executives from the gas and chemicals industries. “They all said – we are absolutely comfortable with the way the first plant has come. The success of the first plant is very important to give confidence, and that success today is visible. December 2024, we see the first chip rolling out of that plant,” he said.
Under Vaishnaw’s leadership, the government implemented INR 76,000-crore scheme to establish a semiconductor manufacturing ecosystem in the country. Dismissing concerns that the global community remains skeptical about India’s semiconductor ambitions, he asserted that industry leaders convened in Davos were impressed by the rapid progress unfolding in India.
Addressing inquiries about India’s domestic chip manufacturing capacity and its potential to substitute imports, the minister emphasized that this endeavour is a decade-long journey.
“This is not a journey which is for a year or a quarter or a monthly basis. We are starting a new industry from scratch. I can very clearly see that we will gain in both – design and manufacturing.”
In June of the previous year, Micron announced that the Phase-1 construction of its upcoming assembly and test facility would commence, with plans for it to become operational in late 2024. The U.S. company anticipated the initiation of Phase 2, involving the construction of a facility comparable in size to Phase 1, in the latter half of the decade.
