India to ease rules to address semiconductor, auto component makers' concerns

India is looking to clear regulatory hurdles for semiconductor equipment and auto component manufacturers. Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said that new rules will be introduced within two months. The push comes alongside a ₹1.27 lakh crore Semicon 2.0 programme, with the government targeting around $50 billion in semiconductor and allied investments over the next 18 months. The minister said the government has significantly simplified the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) framework and is working to ease the approval process.

“There would be occasions where the demand may be only about importing goods from another country …which is not conducive for fair trading practices and which is often known to supply goods at predatory prices. In those situations, obviously it is very difficult to meet the demands of certain sectors of industry, and I am not apologetic about it; I am very upfront and frank about this when they meet me,” he added.

The minister said that two large corporations — one seeking to manufacture semiconductor equipment in India and another in the automotive components sector — had raised certain concerns.

“I have assured them that within the next two months, India will amend its regulations, bring in new rules to accommodate their request and ensure that they will have absolutely no problem as they bring manufacturing into India,” he said.

He added that the Union Cabinet has approved the Semicon 2.0 for the development of India’s semiconductor design and manufacturing ecosystem, with a total budget outlay of ₹1,27,500 crore.

“Together with the private sector, we are looking to seed about USD 50 billion of semiconductor and associated industry in the next year and a half. Once that is done, we will come out with semiconductors 3.0 because for us this is a journey,” he added.