India emerging as promising alternative to China for chipmaking equipment firms

NEW DELHI — The chipmaking equipment industry is looking to establish operations in India, as the country emerges as a promising alternative to China amid tensions between Beijing and the West.

The international chip industry group SEMI is set to host its Semicon exhibition in India for the first time in September. This exhibition has previously been held in the US, Japan, Europe, Taiwan, South Korea, China, and Southeast Asia, reports Nikkei Asia.

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

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

In recent years, due to tensions with the US, there has been a shift in international supply chains away from China. Apple is relocating the 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 INR 1.25 lakh crore.

The chip fabrication facility at the Dholera Special Investment Region (DSIR) in Gujarat is being set up by Tata Electronics Private Limited (TEPL) with a total investment of more than INR 91,000 crore.

The Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT) facility in Morigaon, Assam is being set up by TEPL for Semiconductor Assembly, Testing, Marking and Packaging (ATMP), with a total investment of about INR 27,000 crore.

In April, Union Railways and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that India has commissioned four semiconductor manufacturing units and in the next five years, the country will become one of the biggest semiconductor hubs in the world.

As per Hong Kong-based Counterpoint Technology Market Research, India's semiconductor-related market will reach $64 billion in 2026, nearly triple the size in 2019.