Centre to announce semi-conductor policy soon: Minister

Hyderabad, Feb 6 (UNI) Minister of State for Prime Minister's Office (PMO) Prithviraj Chavan today said the UPA Government will soon announce the 'Semi-conductor policy' prior to the budget along with an incentive package for all semi-conductor based manufacturings.

Releasing the ISA-Ernst&Young Benchmarking Study: ''India in the global Semiconductor Design Ecosystem'' at the 'Vision Summit 2007' here, Mr Chavan said the new semicon policy would provide incentives to display technology, LCD, plasma, solar and photo voltaic cells, testing, advanced micro and nano devices to promote the business in the country.

''The manufacturing sector in India is opening up and the semi-conductor industry is a very important driver of the nation's economy.'' The benchmarking study has highlighted the challenges of the Indian Semi-conductor Design industry and suggested the key imperatives to facilitate its sustainable growth and make India the preferred destination for semi-conductor design activity.

The report also addressed the factors influencing business decisions for locating semi-conductor design facilities across the globe.

''The study helps gauge the industry's strengths and challenges faced by the industry and highlights key imperatives for continued growth in the Semi-conductor Design Industry,'' the Union Minister said in a press release.

UNI