Vibrant Gujarat 2024: 3 MoUs inked, IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw suggests IIT Gandhinagar to establish centre of excellence for semiconductor R&D

GANDHINAGAR : Continuing to urge the semiconductor sector to invest in Gujarat and India at the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit 2024, Union Minister for Communications and Electronics and Information Technology Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw on Thursday requested IIT Gandhinagar to establish a centre of excellence for research and development of semiconductors.

Vaishnaw, who also holds the Railways portfolio, added that the next decade will require a million more talents in the industry, which India can provide.

While hailing the push for semiconductor manufacturing in India, Vaishnaw said, “We will put in whatever resources are required to be put in…so that we can create an ecosystem for R&D, validating new ideas and taking the entire journey to the next level”

“The semiconductor industry is going to require a million more talents in the next decade…this will come from India. This million-strong talent is part of semiconductor missions’ biggest goal and we have already tied up with 104 universities and institutions to develop BTech, and MTech-PhD level talent and have also tied up with institutions which will give excellent training for managing clean rooms,” added the Union minister.

Micron Technology CEO Sanjay Mehrotra said while the construction of the first phase of its testing and assembly plant at Sanand is underway, the second phase “is expected to start in the second half of the decade”.

Mehrotra added they have already hired nearly 200 employees and “some of these initial hires are already undergoing training at Malaysia and Mohali SCL (Semiconductor Lab) Centre.”