India will become the biggest semiconductor manufacturing destination in the world in the next five years with the Centre ensuring that the right ecosystem is built, with production in India being the cheapest globally, Minister of Electronics and IT Ashwini Vaishnaw said during the Express Adda Saturday.
In December 2021, the Centre had announced a $10 billion semiconductor manufacturing plan with a fabrication plant expected to get approval soon.
‘We know for sure that in the coming 4-5 years, India will become the biggest semiconductor manufacturing destination in the world if you have the ecosystem in place. Our focus is making sure that the right ecosystem is built,’ Vaishnaw said.
He was in conversation with Anant Goenka, Executive Director, Indian Express Group, and Anil Sasi, National Business Editor, The Indian Express.
Vaishnaw described semiconductor manufacturing and its related ecosystem as ‘very complex’.
‘There is a need for 250-odd very special chemicals and gases, and a reliable power supply. If there is a voltage fluctuation for even three seconds, then the whole day’s production will be impacted. and ultra pure water that has to be manufactured,’ the minister explained when asked about some of the constituents of the semiconductor ecosystem that will have to be put in place.
However, there are some challenges that will need to be addressed to kick-start and sustain semiconductor manufacturing in India, Vaishnaw said. ‘When we are creating a new industry, people have a tendency to wait and watch, which is very natural,’ he said.
Vaishnaw, who is also Minister of Railways and has untangled the production deadlock for Vande Bharat, the indigenously manufactured, semi-high speed and self-propelled train, said that the government is planning to launch a sleeper version of the train for distances of more than 500 km by March 2024.
‘The idea is this – for distances up to 100 km, we are developing a train called Vande Metro. for journeys between 100-500 km, we have developed the Vande Bharat chair car. beyond 500 km, a Vande Sleeper will be developed. Sleeper and Metro are in the design phase right now. Metro should be coming by January and Sleeper by March of next year,’ he said.
Soon, at least two new Vande Bharat trains will be produced every week as the Centre aims to connect every state with the trains, Vaishnaw said. ‘We have started the production process for 400 trains and right now we roll out a train every eight days. Very soon we will be rolling out one train practically every third day.. The first target is to connect every state with Vande Bharat trains.. Our target is that by the middle of June, we will have done that. After that we will take routes which are very busy,’ he said.
The Railways Ministry is also building new rail tracks at a record pace, even as it is upgrading the old ones, Vaishnaw said. ‘Last year, we did about 5,200 km of rail tracks, building a record 14 km of new tracks every day. Ten years ago, it used to be three-four km a day. Renewal of the old tracks, where we are upgrading them in multiple ways, that number is around 8,000 km every year,’ he said.
The new tracks and the ones that are being upgraded will be capable of handling much faster speeds as well. ‘The older tracks were designed for speeds between 70-80 km per hour, but most of the tracks we are now upgrading, they can handle speeds for about 130 km per hour and a significant portion of them can also manage speeds of over 160 km per hour,’ Vaishnaw said.
The Centre is committed to investing a significant amount of money in India’s rail network for the next decade, he said. ‘We must invest a minimum of Rs 3 lakh crore every year at least for the next 15 years,’ he said.
Vaishnaw also spoke about the complexity of manufacturing Vande Bharat trains owing to the machinery the trains have been equipped with. ‘It took us about 6-7 months to perfect things, getting the designs, supply chains etc. in place. We had to create a new supply chain using some of our own companies in Coimbatore.’
