India Indian Economy + Infra Archive

[Jackdaws]

What is even more concerning is the precipitous drop in labour participation rate from already low 46% to something like 40%.

Lot of young folks have simply given up looking for a job....and subsist on trickle down effect of others employment/savings (and govt transfers as well). I think informal contract jobs in services provide some of the slack too, but hard to say how much.

Some of this was of course result of the covid pandemic + shutdown of economy....and might see improvement later back to pre-covid level.

But 46% already being low is the major issue structurally. Unemployment rate (of wherever between 0 - 15%) really does not mean much with LPR this low.

The supply side of Indian economy is woefully behind still.

These numbers again improve to some respectability if you look at India minus (UP+Bihar etc)... those population concentrations being as underdeveloped as they are really pull down the Indian average significantly.

India can only reach middle tier development if those populations are unlocked to the potentials seen in other places of the country.

@Jackdaws (checking if you checking in)

I was at a Decathlon sporting store last week to pick up shoes and clothes for my kid. I got talking to the salesgirl - she had an MBA in Sports Management and had played sport at the national level for her state and here she was working as a salesgirl in a sporting goods stores - this job would probably be slightly higher than minimum wage in the West. A few years ago I was at a Fort in Rajasthan with a Canadian friend and we got an English speaking tour guide. He had a Masters in History. And he was working as a tour guide. So lets not just speak of unemployment but also of underemployment. Qualified people doing work for which they are clearly overqualified.

 

[Joe Shearer]

I was at a Decathlon sporting store last week to pick up shoes and clothes for my kid. I got talking to the salesgirl - she had an MBA in Sports Management and had played sport at the national level for her state and here she was working as a salesgirl in a sporting goods stores - this job would probably be slightly higher than minimum wage in the West. A few years ago I was at a Fort in Rajasthan with a Canadian friend and we got an English speaking tour guide. He had a Masters in History. And he was working as a tour guide. So lets not just speak of unemployment but also of underemployment. Qualified people doing work for which they are clearly overqualified.

Sometimes I wonder if it wouldn't be a useful manoeuvre to upgrade each and every position in the administrative services, add a hefty dose of training, improve the pay and expect better results. But then our government budgetting wouldn't permit the improve_the_pay bits.

 

[Jackdaws]

Sometimes I wonder if it wouldn't be a useful manoeuvre to upgrade each and every position in the administrative services, add a hefty dose of training, improve the pay and expect better results. But then our government budgetting wouldn't permit the improve_the_pay bits.

It's possible she is a trainee who has to learn being on the shop floor as part of being in the management, but it didn't seem so.

I say scrap the administrative services and privatize everything.

 

[Joe Shearer]

It's possible she is a trainee who has to learn being on the shop floor as part of being in the management, but it didn't seem so.

I say scrap the administrative services and privatize everything.

That's baby and bath-water stuff.

Suppose we did it differently.

You know what a national scandal the CSR has become. Around the time that funds have to be spent, the market is thick with offers and counter-offers - company executives offering money, to be handed over to a properly qualified agency/organisation/institution, but a percentage, usually around 40%, to be returned to the executive as a kickback.

Suppose we change it around.

Suppose the company has to deposit the amount into the SBI into a prescribed government account.

Suppose the Central Government head-count is drastically reduced. The interference with the states and their administration is ruthlessly rolled back. Only defence, external affairs, communications is addressed. All other ministries are either scaled back or outright abolished. Only autonomous institutions are left to take care of statutory and legislative obligations - for instance, legislation on competitive monitoring and regulation is looked after by a commission that operates independently. Ditto for airways regulations, roads regulation and ports and shipping regulation (not development).

Now put the whole surplus lot back into the states, and out of state capitals, postings to be down to the town level, with quantitative targets for the following:

1. Food
2. Clothing
3. Housing
4. Education
5. Health care

Anything else to be established by legislation, and staffed by people paid out of the CSR funds.

Think it might work?

 

[Nilgiri]

Global chipmakers hunting for locations in India for new plants

Companies including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and South Koreas Samsung Electronics are investing tens of billions of dollars each year expanding their output capacity, and India is in talks with some of the giants to attract them into the country.

economictimes.indiatimes.com

Some of the world’s biggest chipmakers are evaluating locations in India for new plants in a bid to broaden manufacturing beyond their home bases, IT minister Ashwini Vaishnav said on Thursday.

Companies including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co. are investing tens of billions of dollars each year expanding their output capacity, and India is in talks with some of the giants to attract them into the country. Their expansion drive comes as nations around the globe are increasingly putting resources into securing domestic chip production.

“India is right there squarely on their global plans whether it is Intel, GlobalFoundries,” Vaishnaw told Bloomberg Television. “TSMC is still taking more time, but other big ones are very serious in their plans.”

India’s semiconductor manufacturing plans come at a time when leading economies are increasingly putting resources into securing their domestic chip production. China has set out a vision for semiconductor sovereignty, the Biden administration has a $52 billion plan to reclaim U.S. leadership in chip development and Japan is setting aside billions to attract the likes of TSMC. Trade tensions between Beijing and Washington along with Covid-related lockdowns have disrupted global supply chains and pushed companies to diversify outside of traditional tech manufacturing hubs like China and Taiwan.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government late last year unveiled a $10 billion incentive plan, offering to cover as much as half of a project’s cost, to lure display and semiconductor fabricators to set up base in India. The country is also the world’s No. 2 smartphone maker.

Modi, who is intensifying his push to establish India as a chipmaking hub, is set to host a three-day gathering in the southern tech hub of Bangalore from Friday to makes pitches to global semiconductor companies.

India’s democracy and talent pool make it stand out among other countries vying for chip sovereignty, Vaishnav said.

 

[Nilgiri]

ISMC Digital to invest $3 billion in chip-making unit in Karnataka

The JV said it would invest in a 65-nanometre analogue semiconductor fabrication plant in Mysuru. US-based chipmaker Intel is buying out Tower in a $5.4 billion deal.

economictimes.indiatimes.com

Bengaluru: International semiconductor consortium ISMC said on Sunday that it would invest $3 billion in a semiconductor chip-making plant in Karnataka.

This has given the southern state the lead in cornering investments under the Union government’s $10-billion incentive scheme for semiconductor companies.

ISMC is a joint venture between Abu Dhabi-based Next Orbit Ventures and Israel's Tower Semiconductor.

The JV said it would invest in a 65-nanometre analogue semiconductor fabrication plant in Mysuru. US-based chipmaker Intel is buying out Tower in a $5.4 billion deal.

ISMC has sought 150 acres at Kochanahalli industrial area in Mysuru.

The project is expected to generate about 1,500 direct jobs.

The government said it would also create about 10,000 indirect job opportunities and kick off an ancillary semiconductor ecosystem.

ET was the first to report on April 25 that Karnataka was close to pipping Gujarat in inking a deal with the consortium for a semiconductor plant.

Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, who said last month that Karnataka would get a semiconductor plant soon, was present as ISMC director Ajay Jalan signed the memorandum of understanding with EV Ramana Reddy, the additional chief secretary, industries and IT/BT departments, in Bengaluru on Sunday.

The unit will be one the first and largest semiconductor fabrication units in the country under the Indian Semiconductor Mission project. The chip consortium will set up the Mysuru plant over the next seven years.

Bommai said Karnataka was leading the march in the semiconductor mission that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched.

The partnership with ISMC, he said, would make Karnataka the frontrunner in semiconductor manufacturing.

His state, the chief minister said, clinched the deal while many others were competing for investments in the semiconductor fab sector.

Karnataka understands that it is not only incentives or concessions, but also a conducive ecosystem that will attract investors, he added.

The project will put Karnataka on the world's semiconductor map, said CN Ashwath Narayan, deputy chief minister and minister of IT/BT.

Two other players — the Vedanta-Foxconn joint venture and Singapore-based IGSS —have also bid for incentives to set up semiconductor and display units in India.


=============================================================

@Rajaraja Chola et al. Seems they are starting at 65 nm, not a bad place to start.

 

[Rajendra Chola]

ISMC Digital to invest $3 billion in chip-making unit in Karnataka

The JV said it would invest in a 65-nanometre analogue semiconductor fabrication plant in Mysuru. US-based chipmaker Intel is buying out Tower in a $5.4 billion deal.

economictimes.indiatimes.com

Bengaluru: International semiconductor consortium ISMC said on Sunday that it would invest $3 billion in a semiconductor chip-making plant in Karnataka.

This has given the southern state the lead in cornering investments under the Union government’s $10-billion incentive scheme for semiconductor companies.

ISMC is a joint venture between Abu Dhabi-based Next Orbit Ventures and Israel's Tower Semiconductor.

The JV said it would invest in a 65-nanometre analogue semiconductor fabrication plant in Mysuru. US-based chipmaker Intel is buying out Tower in a $5.4 billion deal.

ISMC has sought 150 acres at Kochanahalli industrial area in Mysuru.

The project is expected to generate about 1,500 direct jobs.

The government said it would also create about 10,000 indirect job opportunities and kick off an ancillary semiconductor ecosystem.

ET was the first to report on April 25 that Karnataka was close to pipping Gujarat in inking a deal with the consortium for a semiconductor plant.

Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, who said last month that Karnataka would get a semiconductor plant soon, was present as ISMC director Ajay Jalan signed the memorandum of understanding with EV Ramana Reddy, the additional chief secretary, industries and IT/BT departments, in Bengaluru on Sunday.

The unit will be one the first and largest semiconductor fabrication units in the country under the Indian Semiconductor Mission project. The chip consortium will set up the Mysuru plant over the next seven years.

Bommai said Karnataka was leading the march in the semiconductor mission that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched.

The partnership with ISMC, he said, would make Karnataka the frontrunner in semiconductor manufacturing.

His state, the chief minister said, clinched the deal while many others were competing for investments in the semiconductor fab sector.

Karnataka understands that it is not only incentives or concessions, but also a conducive ecosystem that will attract investors, he added.

The project will put Karnataka on the world's semiconductor map, said CN Ashwath Narayan, deputy chief minister and minister of IT/BT.

Two other players — the Vedanta-Foxconn joint venture and Singapore-based IGSS —have also bid for incentives to set up semiconductor and display units in India.


=============================================================

@Rajaraja Chola et al. Seems they are starting at 65 nm, not a bad place to start.

I will still hold my horses. MoU is nothing new for India. Same Karnataka govt had signed an MoU back in 2017 for an Silicon plant. The problem is this plant is a partnership of 4-5 companies. So I would.wait for more information.
The news is this consortium is still discussing deals with other states. MoU has been signed due to pressure and optics.

The other investment which looks promising is Tata. They talk less and do big. Out of nowhere Tata electronics was started, they signed an MoU and started work in the next 3 months in Krishnagiri I think. Tata is planning Coimbatore. Chip plants need a lot of water. I hope koolis don't start protesting over there citing environment. If it was me, I would ask them.to build a plant in Chennai and govt would then build a small desalination plant exclusively for this plant and other semiconductor units. I am not sure if it needs only fresh water.

 

[Nilgiri]

Service sector exports likely to touch USD 350 billion this fiscal: SEPC

India's services sector exports touched an all-time high of around USD 250 billion in FY22.

economictimes.indiatimes.com

Vedanta is in talks to raise up to $3 billion debt in semiconductors push

The oil-to-metals conglomerate decided in February to diversify into chip manufacturing and formed a joint venture with Taiwan's Foxconn. It has a total planned investment outlay of $20 billion.

economictimes.indiatimes.com

 

[Nilgiri]

That's baby and bath-water stuff.

Suppose we did it differently.

You know what a national scandal the CSR has become. Around the time that funds have to be spent, the market is thick with offers and counter-offers - company executives offering money, to be handed over to a properly qualified agency/organisation/institution, but a percentage, usually around 40%, to be returned to the executive as a kickback.

Suppose we change it around.

Suppose the company has to deposit the amount into the SBI into a prescribed government account.

Suppose the Central Government head-count is drastically reduced. The interference with the states and their administration is ruthlessly rolled back. Only defence, external affairs, communications is addressed. All other ministries are either scaled back or outright abolished. Only autonomous institutions are left to take care of statutory and legislative obligations - for instance, legislation on competitive monitoring and regulation is looked after by a commission that operates independently. Ditto for airways regulations, roads regulation and ports and shipping regulation (not development).

Now put the whole surplus lot back into the states, and out of state capitals, postings to be down to the town level, with quantitative targets for the following:

1. Food
2. Clothing
3. Housing
4. Education
5. Health care

Anything else to be established by legislation, and staffed by people paid out of the CSR funds.

Think it might work?

Awaiting jackdaws reply and any others, before I pass my comment....though I quite like your approach.

 

[Joe Shearer]

Awaiting jackdaws reply and any others, before I pass my comment....though I quite like your approach.

@Jackdaws ?

That bum was last seen rolling on the floor, laughing, with tears in his eyes!
Wait till I get my hands around his neck.

 

[Nilgiri]

From business standard:

 

[Nilgiri]

It looks like UAE and other M.E countries might play big role in all of this as well @Philip the Arab

 

[Nilgiri]

Meity to train over 85,000 engineers in chip design in next 5 years

"Leapfrogging, Meity now intends to make accessible a centralized chip design infrastructure to be made available at India Chip Centre setup at C-DAC, to train over 85000 B Tech, M Tech and PhD students at 120 academic institutions across the country in chip design area for next 5 years," an...

economictimes.indiatimes.com

@Rajaraja Chola if you have any more thoughts to add.

 

[Jackdaws]

That's baby and bath-water stuff.

Suppose we did it differently.

You know what a national scandal the CSR has become. Around the time that funds have to be spent, the market is thick with offers and counter-offers - company executives offering money, to be handed over to a properly qualified agency/organisation/institution, but a percentage, usually around 40%, to be returned to the executive as a kickback.

Suppose we change it around.

Suppose the company has to deposit the amount into the SBI into a prescribed government account.

Suppose the Central Government head-count is drastically reduced. The interference with the states and their administration is ruthlessly rolled back. Only defence, external affairs, communications is addressed. All other ministries are either scaled back or outright abolished. Only autonomous institutions are left to take care of statutory and legislative obligations - for instance, legislation on competitive monitoring and regulation is looked after by a commission that operates independently. Ditto for airways regulations, roads regulation and ports and shipping regulation (not development).

Now put the whole surplus lot back into the states, and out of state capitals, postings to be down to the town level, with quantitative targets for the following:

1. Food
2. Clothing
3. Housing
4. Education
5. Health care

Anything else to be established by legislation, and staffed by people paid out of the CSR funds.

Think it might work?

Its a good idea. Let me explore it and pitch it to some Chinese investors.

 

[Joe Shearer]

Its a good idea. Let me explore it and pitch it to some Chinese investors.

Hey, you haven't come back to the war-gaming group.

 

[Rajendra Chola]

Meity to train over 85,000 engineers in chip design in next 5 years

"Leapfrogging, Meity now intends to make accessible a centralized chip design infrastructure to be made available at India Chip Centre setup at C-DAC, to train over 85000 B Tech, M Tech and PhD students at 120 academic institutions across the country in chip design area for next 5 years," an...

economictimes.indiatimes.com

@Rajaraja Chola if you have any more thoughts to add.

Not sure what to add. India already has robust semi conductors design base. All major companies have bases here. Plus I am not sure what this news means. Training in this field would require lots of infrastructure wrt to software where license would cost 6-8k per year.

If they are going to train in chip programming, on RTL logic it would make.the job easier.

Me myself planning to enter semiconductor testing field from ATE. It does have bright prospect but needs lot of learning.

 

[Nilgiri]

@Rajaraja Chola et al

A slightly deeper look into the proposals:

 

[Nilgiri]

Greenko to build world’s largest integrated renewable energy storage project in Kurnool

The 5,230 MW project is a first of its kind single location energy storage project with wind and solar capacities

www.thehindubusinessline.com

The 5,230 MW project is a first of its kind single location energy storage project with wind and solar capacities​

The Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has said that his government would extend full support to world’s largest integrated renewable energy storage project (IRESP) of the Greenko Group coming up in Kurnool. He was speaking after performing the concrete pour ceremony at the location on Tuesday.

The IRESP is a first of its kind single location energy storage project with wind and solar capacities. The 5,230 MW project will play a pivotal role in India attaining energy security and enable global energy transition. The project is coming up with an investment of over $3 billion comprising pumped storage (10,800 MWh of daily storage), solar (3000 MW) and wind (550 MW). It's expected to be completed in 2024.

Anil Chalamalasetty, Founder, CEO & MD, Greenko Group, said that Andhra Pradesh is set to become an energy storage capital of India on the back of its favourable topography.

"This integrated solution is pivotal for the nation to become energy independent and establishes it as a leader of decarbonised economies," he added.
According to Greenko, it is the world’s largest renewable energy storage and leading energy transition and decarbonization solutions company. It has an installed renewable energy capacity of nearly 7.5 GW across wind, solar and hydro capacities.

================================

 

[Nilgiri]

Forex reserves up by $3.854 billion to $601.363 billion

During the reporting week, the rise in forex reserves was due to an increase in the Foreign Currency Assets (FCA) and the gold reserves, according to the Weekly Statistical Supplement released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday. FCA increased by USD 3.61 billion to USD 536.988 billion...

economictimes.indiatimes.com

 

[Nilgiri]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1534195574139801600