Indian gov't hires Accenture to review fab proposals

Indian gov't hires Accenture to review fab proposals

BANGALORE, India -- IT services company Accenture said it has been selected by India's Department of Electronics & Information Technology to review investment proposals from global technology providers and investors interested in building semiconductor fabs in India.

As part of a management consulting engagement, Accenture will work in two phases to help the government assess companies interested in building semiconductor fabs in India.

The first phase includes the development of a template for business proposals as well as a project appraisal template and a letter of intent detailing terms and conditions.

Accenture will then conduct a detailed assessment of the business proposals received by DeitY. The due diligence process could include site visits, interaction with suppliers, market surveys and feasibility studies, the company said in a statement.

Semiconductor fabrication is an essential requirement for the domestic manufacture of electronics, and the government has set a goal of attracting investments of between Rs.36,649.21 crore—Rs.52,356.02 crore ($7-$10 billion).

The Indian government is seeking companies with technology expertise to invest and set up semiconductor wafer fabrication units in the country.

"With an investment scope of billions of U.S. dollars, this strategic project holds considerable promise for Indian manufacturing," said Krishna Giri, managing director-Health & Public Services business, Accenture India.

A high-level government committee has recommended supporting investors interested in establishing semiconductor wafer fabs to manufacture chips in India to increase capacity for India's growing domestic demand.

India has emerged as a key centre for chip design, as the country's current electronics hardware production capacity represents 1.31 per cent of global capacity.

At current growth levels, domestic production of semiconductors can only meet demand of $104 billion of a demand projected to reach Rs.20.94 lakh crore ($400 billion) by 2020.

"We look forward to working closely with the government on this landmark initiative. Over time, the electronic hardware industry has the potential to become a significant contributor to India's GDP, much like the software industry is today," Giri added.

Joint Secretary Ajay Kumar said, "We believe that this initiative will help create an ecosystem for electronics system design and manufacturing in the country."
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