India, US to enhance tech commerce; to focus on semiconductor, telecom, high-end computing

New Delhi, June 23

India and the US will focus on measures to facilitate greater technology sharing, co-production opportunities with semiconductor, 5G and 6G telecom network, quantum and high-end computing, said a joint statement released on Friday.

The statement dated June 22 released after the meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden in the US said that both governments had committed to promoting policies and adapting regulations to facilitate greater technology sharing, co-development, and co-production opportunities between the US and Indian industry, government, and academic institutions.

India and the US have signed multiple pacts to push bilateral commerce, technology transfer, joint development of technologies in the area of semiconductor, 5G and 6G telecom and open source-based telecom network, quantum and high-performance computing, etc, as both nations enhance commitment towards trusted network and supply chain ecosystem.

“President Biden and Prime Minister Modi hailed the signing of an MoU on Semiconductor Supply Chain and Innovation Partnership as a significant step in the coordination of our countries’ semiconductor incentive programmes. This will promote commercial opportunities, research, talent, and skill development,” the joint statement said.

Both leaders welcomed computer memory chip maker Micron Technology’s announcement to set up a semiconductor assembly and test facility in Gujarat entailing an investment of USD 2.75 billion with support from the Indian government. The plant is expected to create up to 5,000 new direct and 15,000 community jobs opportunities in the next five years.

“The leaders also welcomed Lam Research’s proposal to train 60,000 Indian engineers through its Semiverse Solution virtual fabrication platform to accelerate India’s semiconductor education and workforce development goals, and an announcement by Applied Materials Inc, to invest USD 400 million to establish a collaborative engineering centre in India,” the statement said.

With the vision of creating secure and trusted telecommunications, resilient supply chains, and enabling global digital inclusion, Biden and Modi launched two joint task forces on advanced telecommunications, focused on Open RAN and research and development in 5G/6G technologies.