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The Centre has decided to welcome fresh applications for the establishment of Semiconductor and Display Fabs in India starting June 1 under the Modified Semiconductor India Programme.

The applications can be submitted online through the portal of India Semiconductor Mission, which is the designated nodal entity in-charge of implementing the programme for the development of the semiconductor and display manufacturing ecosystem.

The modified scheme application window for the establishment of Compound Semiconductors or Silicon Photonics or Sensors Fab or Discrete Semiconductors Fab and Semiconductor ATMP or OSAT facilities is open till December 2024.

The Design Linked Incentive Scheme application window is also open until December 2024. So far, 26 applications have been submitted under the DLI Scheme, with five being approved.

As per the government, all those who applied under the Semiconductor Fab Scheme and the Display Fab Scheme (earlier schemes) are eligible to submit applications under the Modified Scheme for Semiconductor Fabs and Modified Scheme for Display Fabs after making appropriate changes to their proposals.

The Semiconductor India Programme was launched in December 2021 with an investment of Rs 76,000 crore for the development of India’s semiconductor and display manufacturing ecosystem. It included several programmes aimed at attracting investments in the semiconductor and display manufacturing industries. The Union Cabinet approved the amendment to this project during its meeting in September last year.

The modified programme for the establishment of semiconductor and display fabs would provide financial assistance of 50 per cent of project cost on a pari-passu basis to applicants who are qualified and have the technology as well as the capacity to execute such highly capital and resource-demanding projects.

The government also stated that it will collaborate with state governments to establish High-Tech Clusters with the necessary infrastructure in terms of land, semiconductor-grade water, high-quality power, logistics, and a research ecosystem to approve applications for the establishment of at least two greenfield Semiconductor Fabs and two Display Fabs in the country.

The modified scheme also includes fiscal support of 50 per cent of capital expenditure on pari-passu basis under the scheme for setting up of Compound Semiconductors or Silicon Photonics or Sensors Fab and Semiconductor ATMP or OSAT facilities in India. Additionally, target technologies under the Scheme will include Discrete Semiconductor Fabs.

Furthermore, the government said that for five years, the DLI Scheme will provide a product design-linked incentive of up to 50 per cent of qualifying expenditure and a product deployment-related incentive of 6%-4% on net sales.

Support will be provided to 100 domestic semiconductor design companies for Integrated Circuits (ICs), Chipsets, System on Chips (SoCs), Systems & IP Cores and semiconductor-linked design, to facilitate the growth of at least 20 such companies with a turnover of more than Rs 1,500 crore over the next few years.