India is emerging as a promising alternative to China for chip manufacturing equipment companies

New Delhi

The chipmaking equipment industry plans to launch operations in India as the country emerges as a promising alternative to China amid tensions between Beijing and the West.

International chip industry group SEMI will host the Semicon exhibition in India for the first time in September. According to Nikkei Asia, the exhibition has previously been held in the US, Japan, Europe, Taiwan, South Korea, China and Southeast Asia.

Several Japanese companies are scheduled to participate, including Tokyo Electron, Disco, Canon, Tokyo Seimitsu and Daifuku. Tokyo Electron will showcase equipment for wafer deposition, coating and other steps in the chipmaking process.

Additionally, U.S.-based companies such as Applied Materials, Lam Research and KLA will also have large booths at the exhibition.

In recent years, tensions with the US have resulted in a shift of international supply chains away from China. Apple is moving production of iPhones and other products from China to India.

In March, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of three semiconductor projects worth Rs 1.25 lakh crore.

The chip manufacturing facility in Gujarat’s Dholera Special Investment Region (DSIR) is being set up by Tata Electronics Private Limited (TEPL) with a total investment of over Rs 91,000 crore.

TEPL is setting up an Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Testing (OSAT) facility in Morigaon, Assam for semiconductor assembly, testing, marking and packaging (ATMP), with a total investment of around Rs 27,000 crore.

In April, Union Railways and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said India had set up four semiconductor manufacturing plants and that the country would become one of the largest semiconductor manufacturing hubs in the world in the next five years.

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According to Counterpoint Technology Market Research conducted in Hong Kong, the Indian semiconductor market will reach USD 64 billion in 2026, almost three times the size in 2019.