High time India’s Semiconductor Mission got a reboot

On December 15, 2021 when the Narendra Modi-lead Union Cabinet approved incentive schemes for display fabs, semiconductor fabs, chip packaging, and design with an initial overlay of Rs 76,000 crore, the nodal agency setup for efficient and smooth implementation of the schemes was named India Semiconductor Mission (ISM).

Unlike the various Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes that the Union government has introduced, the incentives for semiconductor schemes are not linked to the initial or incremental production targets achieved by the winning bidders.

The policy says that the Centre “shall extend fiscal support of up to 50% of project cost on pari-passu basis to applicants who are found eligible and have the technology as well as capacity to execute such highly capital intensive and resource incentive projects”.