Karnataka to Soon Get Semicon Policy
By CXOtoday Staff
Mumbai, Jul 28, 2008

The Karnataka government will announce a semiconductor policy very soon. It has also earmarked land for a hardware technology park near the new airport (in Devanahalli)

According to Katta Subramanya Naidu, the minister for excise, information, BWWB, IT and BT for government of Karnataka, the government is also thinking in the lines of finishing schools in PPP mode as the semiconductor industry is technology driven, and demands continuous training and re-skilling of the workforce.

Naidu made this statement during his opening address at the ISA Excite event organized by the India Semiconductor Association.

Ashok Kumar Manoli, principal secretary to the government, said: "When you look at India, it is software, and when you look at China, it is hardware. We should make a beginning and try and become the global capital for both hardware and software. We need to design such a policy that design activities continue and also facilitate manufacturing."

He said: "We will come up with a very participative semiconductor policy. It will also look at addressing infrastructure requirements for manufacturing setups." According to him, the hardware industry is the foundation for the entire revolution, which the government is looking at. He requested all companies present at the ISA Excite to participate at the forthcoming BangaloreIT.com event, and added that the state government was committed and fully geared up to deliver.

Over the last several years, India has been a destination favored by almost all leading global semiconductor companies for setting up their development centers for semiconductors and embedded designs.

The size of the Indian semicon design industry is currently $ 6 billion across Very Large System Integration (VLSI) and board design, and embedded software, with the potential to be around $ 9 billion by 2009. There are nearly 200 companies and it employs over 130,000 professionals, all over India, with the potential to employ over 180,000 by 2009. The Indian semicon design industry has a CAGR of nearly 22 percent versus the global average of 7-8 % according to a release.

Nearly 90 % of the VLSI design work is done out of Bangalore alone. Appropriately, the ISA is headquartered in Bangalore, the heart of India's chip industry. The minister said, "The conducive work environment policies and high-quality talent are the important attractions for both MNCs and Indian companies to set up shop here. We value the contribution of our technology leaders and engineers to build the economy of the state and make it a global leader. Bangalore is next only to Silicon Valley, California, in terms of the work done here."

In future, the government of Karnataka wants to look at Mysore, Mangalore, and Hubli as important centers to be developed. "These are centers of education with high quality and quantity of engineering talent. Our government is working on improving the connectivity to these cities to help attract investment there, as well as the expansion of companies from Bangalore to other towns within Karnataka," he said.

The NASSCOM-Kearney report has identified 43 potential locations in the country for IT development. The report also suggests measures to be taken to make these locations attractive for IT investments. Recommendations, such as improving the quality of education, imparting employable skills to the uneducated youth, improving infrastructure, particularly, air connectivity, etc., would be taken into consideration.



Related links:
HP, Karnataka Govt Join Forces For e-governance
Indian Semiconductor Industry Is Growing