原创 India's semiconductor policy: The ongoing debate

India's recently published semiconductor fabrication and manufacturing policy outline document made for interesting reading. The nascent semiconductor industry in India has been looking forward to the definition and publication of such a policy because it usually carries with it tax incentives that are designed to encourage the growth of the industry that provide tax benefits, set aside special areas and help to generate employment and the growth of ancillary industries around the designated industry and the geographic areas where such special zones are sited.

One interesting policy statement that was articulated in the document was that the incentives would not be available for plants that are intending to set up with second hand or used semiconductor fabrication equipment. This is interesting because of the contrast it presents to the semiconductor manufacturing policy followed in China. In 2004, SEMI estimated that new semiconductor fabrication equipment sales in China were on the order of US$2.7billion and used equipment sales were valued at US$180 million. The trade in used semiconductor equipment has been quite brisk since then. For the semi equipment market, given that the relative size of the used equipment market worldwide when compared with the new equipment market is quite small, it may not cause a major impact. However in the context of the fledgling Indian semiconductor market, will this policy statement slow down the investment pace in India?