New Delhi, Jan 11 Known as a software provider for years, India can become an electronics systems and semiconductor design provider for the world in the next five to seven years amid the global chip shortage, Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Rajeev Chandrasekhar said here on Tuesday.
The Ministry of electronics and IT (MeitY) has come up with an ambitious thousand-day plan on how to make India into a trillion-dollar digital economy.
"We can now become electronic systems and manufacturing services design providers. There are whole new opportunities out there, on top of what our core capability was for the last 15 to 20 years," he said during Microsoft's 'Future Ready' virtual event.
The industry has hailed the latest government's decision to set up the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) and approved Rs 76,000 crore ($10 billion) for the development of semiconductors and display manufacturing ecosystem in the country.
The Rs 76,000 crore scheme will be spread across 6 years. As part of the scheme, incentives worth Rs 2.3 lakh crore will be provided to position India as a global hub.
According to Chandrasekhar, there has been a paradigm shift and the most important element of that paradigm shift is that the world's world's technology consuming countries are accelerating their digitalisation.
"They want to source digital products and services from countries and supply chains that they can trust. I think the world is seeking to diversify their value chains and supply chains. That is exactly where India finds itself," he stressed.
"We are now in the post-Covid reality of the world, looking for global value chains and trusted partners, positioning India in a very sweet spot to pursue these opportunities that are now available to us," the minister emphasised.
India is witnessing an increased digital adoption during Covid in areas like Health, fintech, education and skilling.
"It is clear that the Internet in India is not just about surfing and watching Netflix or watching YouTube. It is really about material daily functions of a citizen being met. The Internet has now become an economic lifeline," said Chandrasekhar.
Every corporate, big or small, and every government is now in a race to digitalise its functions, services and businesses.
"That plays to the strengths of India. The next wave of computing performance is going to come from software optimisation, semiconductor design, electronic systems design and innovation," the minister said.
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