Govt to extend deadline to submit application for making chips under PLI scheme

The Indian government is reportedly planning to extend the deadline for submitting applications for its production linked incentive (PLI) scheme for designing and manufacturing chips in the country. With this scheme, the government plans to bolster chip making and display fabrication ecosystem in the country.

The minister of state for electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrashekhar told The Economic Times that the deadline for submitting the applications has been extended in order to enable top chipmakers across the globe to submit their proposals.

“There is no deadline as such. Conversations with many global leaders are ongoing and so extending the date is certain. The government understands that this is a very time-intensive decision and more so due to travel and meeting restrictions,” Chandrashekhar told the publication. The government announced the scheme back in December last year and it began accepting proposals beginning January 1, 2022 with the deadline being set to February 15.

The report also says that the Indian government is in the talks with several companies including Intel, GlobalFoundries, Samsung and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing company (TSMC) to apply for this scheme and set up manufacturing units in India. Furthermore, these companies have demonstrated an interest in the $10 billion incentive package that aims to create an ecosystem for chip designing, packaging and manufacturing in India. In light of these discussions, the government has decided to extend the last date of submitting the proposals under this scheme.

Notably, as of now only a handful of companies have submitted their proposal under this scheme. Indian conglomerate Vedanta and iPhone-maker Foxconn announced a joint venture recently. Vedanta group will be the majority shareholder of this joint venture with its chairman Anil Agarwal being the chairman of the new company. Foxconn, on the other hand, will be the minority shareholder of the joint venture.

In addition to the Vedanta-Foxconn joint venture, Abu Dhabi-based Next Orbit Ventures has also displayed an interest in investing in India as a part of this scheme. As per the report, it has pitched a 6nm-based fab at a cost of $3 billion in India. It has also partnered with Israeli company Tower Semiconductor for the same.

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