Adrija wrote:Govt support is needed for something like 15 years! Tax breaks, duty waivers on imported machinery etc . Land, water , power, roads , communication hubs, also needs to be in place.
but is setting up a fab the right thing to do at this stage, or are we better off doing some other basic building blocks first?
India is not set up to build up a something like a Huawei or even a Samsung (both of which were effectively state-sponsored capitalism in different garbs)..........so what is the best route for us? Something which involves fostering the ecosystem without necessarily picking up individual players....
BTW, just so that we are clear, I am not denying the necessity of government support in setting up a fab, just wanted to get your views on what the correct sequencing should be....once an enabling ecosystem is built then hopefully there will be more than one player to build a fab and then the government can ideally come up with the appropriate policies/ support mechanisms...
Adrija,
That is a tough question. If I were to hazard a guess, I would say we should start off with a 8" Fab (like the one on SCL) which targets non-govt entities. .
- There are still lots of products that can run on 8" fabs and companies always like backup fabs to reduce risk to supply chains.
- The investment is not as high as a 12" fab.
- The cost of production for companies is also less.
- Once we have that running for a few years and a name is established, 12" fabs can come up.
That will serve as a training ground for personnel and they can move into 12" fabs seamlessly.
Once you have trained personnel, infrstructure,companies like TSMC and UMC would think about coming in.
BTW something caught my eye: SCL
produces a Ultrasonic Liquid Level Sensor for space applications. I am pretty sure such a product will cost an arm and a leg in the US. If SCL can commoditize it for commericail applications, it would be far cheaper. And this was what I was referring to earlier. It takes one or two products like this from some entrepreneurs which is designed and manufactured in India to open the gates for others to take risk. There are enough expats working in the US alone who would consider this.