GS Paper - II
India and the US have entered into an agreement to set up a semiconductor fabrication plant to make chips for use in “national security, next generation telecommunications and green energy applications”, according to the Indo-US joint fact-sheet.
More about the agreement
- Both US President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the “watershed arrangement”, the first such project where the US Military has agreed to a partnership on highly valued technology with India.
- The fab, focused on “advanced sensing, communication and power electronics”, will be enabled by support from the India Semiconductor Mission as well as a strategic technology partnership between Bharat Semi, 3rdiTech, and the US Space Force.
- It will be established with the objective of manufacturing infrared, gallium nitride and silicon carbide semiconductors.
- Drawing a parallel with the Indo-US civil nuclear deal, the fab titled “Shakti”, or power, would not only be the first technology partnership between Indian businesses and the US Space Force but also a first in the Quad, a 4-member strategic security forum also comprising Japan and Australia.
Essential Pillars
- It will focus on three essential pillars for modern war fighting: advanced sensing, advanced communications and high voltage power electronics.
- These three areas also have huge growing needs for commercial sectors such as railways, telecom infrastructure and data centres and green energy.
- The infrared, gallium nitride and silicon carbide semiconductors fall under the category known as compound semiconductors.
- India’s current imports bill for these semiconductors for national security alone is USD 1 billion a year.
- After this technology partnership, India will join a handful of elite nations with the capability and knowhow to manufacture these types of semiconductors on shore, adding that India will be a stable trusted supply chain in the most critical of national security technology.
