‘Centre’s delay costs India Intel’

Chip firm to set up plant in China
Intel Corporation chairman Craig R. Barrett on Wednesday blamed the Indian government for delaying the announcement of semiconductor policy because of which the company selected China and Vietnam for its semiconductor plant in place of India.
"We do our manufacturing (expansion) capacity planning years in advance because it takes us years to build and bring, on line the manufacturing plants such as in Vietnam and China, which we have announced. We were in serious discussion with the Indian government (for setting up the semiconductor plant here). But the Indian government was a bit slow in coming out with its semiconductor manufacturing proposal and missed the window of our time period," said Mr Barrett.
"India will be high on the list, when we will again look for expanding our manufacturing capacity in future. But what has happened has happened," said Mr Barrett.
Mr Barrett said that he believes that India and China will have a faster economic growth rate than the developed countries in the coming years. "It depends on how you do the mathematics, India will be among the top three economic powers of the world in 20-25 years. This to me looks inevitable because of the huge population and the growth that is taking place," said Mr Barrett.
Intel is world's biggest chip manufacturer. According to reports, Intel plans to build a $2.5-billion facility in China to make chip wafers using 300-millimetre technology. The work is expected to start later this year and the plant will begin initial production runs in the first half of 2010. China is welcoming investments from overseas and drafting financial incentives to domestic chip makers to cultivate the country's semiconductor industry. China has been competing with India to attract investments from overseas technology companies.
Intel also needs to receive the approval of the United States government to export its manufacturing technology to China. According to news reports, Intel may choose not to produce its most advanced microprocessors in China to ensure that it receives an American technology exp-ort license.
Chinese chipmakers face obstacles when buying advanced equipment from the United States that may be used for military purposes.