He said India is set to lead the next technology revolution, and investments are being made in developing capabilities in 5G, among other things."We are paving the way for India to lead the next technology revolution. We are on our way to connecting six hundred thousand villages with broadband. We are investing in developing capabilities in 5G, Internet of Things, and clean energy technologies," Modi said at the inaugural session of the Semicon India-2022 conference here.
"India's consumption of semiconductors is expected to cross USD 80 billion by 2026 and USD 110 billion by 2030," he added. Speaking about the country's economic health, the Prime Minister said India is headed for robust economic growth with the world's fastest-growing startup eco-system, where new unicorns are coming up every few weeks.
Modi called upon the industry to establish India as one of the key partners in global semi-conductor supply chains and work in this direction based on hi-tech, high quality, and high reliability. Citing reasons for India to become an attractive investment destination for semi-conductor technologies, Modi said, "We are building the digital infrastructure to connect over 1.3 billion Indians, and the UPI is the world's most efficient payment infrastructure today."
Modi also said the country uses digital technology to transform lives in all governance sectors, from health and welfare to inclusion and empowerment. The Prime Minister also underlined that the government is investing heavily in skilling and training young Indians for the needs of the 21st century.
"We have an exceptional semi-conductor design talent pool which makes up to 20 percent of the world's semiconductor design engineers," Modi said. The Prime Minister also apprised the audience that the government has undertaken several measures toward transforming the Indian manufacturing sector. "At a time when humanity was fighting a once in a century pandemic, India was improving the health of our people and the health of our economy," he added. Modi said the previous government was like a 'Not Gate' whereas the role of the government should be like 'And Gate.'
"In earlier times, industries were ready to do their work, but the government was like a ''Not Gate''. When any input flows into the ''Not Gate'', it gets negated," he added. The prime minister used the popular terms 'Not Gate' and 'And Gate' used in the semiconductor industry.
Modi said there were many needless compliances and no ease of doing business in the past. "But, we understand that the government must be like the ''And Gate''. While the industry works hard, the government must work even harder," the Prime Minister explained. According to him, the government has undertaken wide-ranging reforms to improve India's ease of doing business.
In this connection, he recalled that the government has abolished more than 25,000 compliances and gave push towards auto-renewal of licenses. Modi pointed out that digitization also brings speed and transparency to the regulatory framework.
