Goyal meets US semiconductor makers amid chip shortage

Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal met with US-based semiconductor companies to explore greater collaboration with Indian companies. This comes after the union government, earlier this year, approved an outlay of ₹76,000 crore for the development of semiconductors and display manufacturing ecosystem.

“Building on our pool of young & skilled workforce discussed how India in collaboration with Lam research, can provide a leading edge in semiconductor innovation,” Goyal said in a social media post after his meeting with Tim Archer, CEO of Lam Research.

The minister further said that he deliberated on ways that the world’s largest semiconductor companies can further strengthen India’s semiconductor, display & solar manufacturing ecosystems.

Several companies from diverse industries were forced to shut down or curtail production due to the shortage of semiconductors. As per a Goldman Sachs report, the supply chain disruptions in the semiconductor industry have spillovers in over 169 industries. The manufacturing of semiconductors requires a large amount of capital and has an average gestation period of 6-9 months.

Meanwhile, ministry of commerce and industry said that Goyal will continue on the second leg of his tour of the US and travel to Los Angeles today to attend the first in-person Ministerial meeting of the Indo-Pacific Economic Forum (IPEF), US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) meeting and other significant events.

Interacting with media later in the day, ahead of the IPEF Ministerial, Goyal said that discussions at IPEF would focus on opening opportunities for the member nations to work in partnership with each other to ensure that particularly during challenges and difficult times, supply chains remain open and business and people of countries don’t suffer because of chaotic conditions like covid and conflict.

“Elaborating further, the Minister said that at the IPEF Ministerial, discussions would focus on facilitating open trade and keeping supply chains open. He said that as trading relations with IPEF nations expand, investments, both from and into India, would also get a leg up. All the countries meeting tomorrow have a lot to offer each other in terms of trade, investments and technology and we will work together on all fronts,” Goyal said as per an official statement.