Karnataka to have semicon policy very soon

IT minister highlights various initiatives being adopted and proposed by state

government in semicon space at ISA Excite

Pradeep Chakraborty
Saturday, July 26, 2008

BANGALORE, INDIA: The government of Karnataka will be announcing a

semiconductor policy very soon, according to Katta Subramanya Naidu, the minister
for Excise, Information, BWWB, IT and BT, government of Karnataka, while delivering
the opening address at the ISA Excite organized by the India Semiconductor
Association.

Over the last several years, India has been a destination favoured 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 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 percent.

Nearly 90 percent 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."

New centers to be developed

Katta Subramanya Naidu added that 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.

Welcome the ISA initiative to launch Excite, a program for the semiconductor and
ecosystem companies, he noted that it was a good platform to understand the
technology trends and to collaborate with the right partner.

He said: "Karnataka today is at the crossroads. We have the direction and leadership
of Hon'ble chief minister Yeddyruppa. He is extremely committed to the cause of
making Karnataka as the most preferred destination for the semiconductor industry
and electronics hardware manufacturing. My government would be glad to extend
any support for your business plans in the state."

State semicon policy soon

The state government plans to announce a semiconductor policy in the near future.
It has also earmarked land for a hardware technology park near the new airport (in
Devanahalli).

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.