State hopeful of attracting few major semicon projects

The State government is working hard to secure some major projects in the semiconductor manufacturing space in the near future.

The government is pinning hopes on the Semicon 2.0 policy approved by the Central government recently with a massive financial outlay of ₹1.27 lakh crore. The policy approved on July 15 envisages a transition of the country from basic assembly and capacity creation to complete self reliance and global leadership in the semiconductor industry.

“Telangana did not get at least one of the seven to eight projects sanctioned as part of the previous policy. We are aggressively marketing the State’s potential with the Centre,” a senior official told The Hindu. The State has policy consistency, robust energy infrastructure and other advantages, including a talent pool catering to the requirements of the industry and hence, the optimism.

Several major firms, including AMD, Intel, Qualcomm and Nvidia have their facilities here. Majors like Amazon have committed investments in Telangana, where anchor clients like Microsoft have had their presence for a long time. “We are pitching the advantages to attract investments as well as enhance employment potential,” the official said.

There however, is some scepticism among the administration as such decisions are based on a political call, decisions taken at the highest levels. It is the Central government's call, as it gives part of the subsidy to the firms coming to set up their bases here. “They are not administrative or bureaucratic issues,” the official said.