Intel has not approached the government to set up fab: IT dept

NEW DELHI: The Department of Information Technology today refuted Intel chairman Craig Barrett’s charge that the government’s delay in announcing a semiconductor policy has forced the global chipmaker to shift its fab to China and Vietnam from India.

Jainder Singh, secretary, Department of Information Technology, said Intel has not approached the government of India to set up a fab in the country. Instead, it approached the government with a proposal for an Assembly Test Mark and Pack (ATMP) unit. “They (Intel officials) have approached us for the ATMP plant, and not for a fab. They were never in discussion with us on setting up a fab in India. It has nothing to do with the government’s semiconductor policy, which they claim,” Singh told CyberMedia News. Barrett, while inaugurating a tele healthcare project at Tindivanam in Tamil Nadu last week, had told reporters that Intel has committed to set up a fab elsewhere.

“When we need more capacity we will consider a fab here. The Indian programme for semiconductor manufacturing was not as timely and we had already made prior commitments elsewhere,” the Intel chairman said during his ninth visit to the country. Intel had already started working on its $2.5 billion chip plant – Fab 68 – in northeast China. India announced its semiconductor policy in February this year.

Meet on semicon guidelines

Meanwhile, the Union Minister of Communications and IT A Raja has convened a meeting this afternoon to discuss the semiconductor guidelines. Raja, who was speaking on the sidelines of the Interpol’s 7th Conference on Cyber Crime, refused to divulge further details. With the government likely to announce the semiconductor guidance, hordes of companies are in the foray to set up chip manufacturing units in the country.

According to official records a number of companies have evinced interest in setting up units. SemIndia Inc has shown interest in setting up a $3 billion wafer fab. Hindustan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (HSMC) in collaboration with Infineon Technologies has proposed to invest $4 billion in the fabrication unit. Moser Baer has announced to establish a thin film solar fab in Noida with an investment of $250 million. For manufacturing solar photovoltaic modules in India, Signet Solar is planning to invest $2 billion. Reports said Reliance Industries is also planning to enter the chip- manufacturing arena.