Weekly News Updates-November 29 to December 5

India's Q2 GDP growth is 7.6%; Foxconn to invest US$1.6 billion more in India; More semicon chip fabrication units to come up in India; AMD opens global design center in Bengaluru; NVIDIA and Netweb collaborate to produce GPU servers; HCL to invest $400 million for a chip plant in Karnataka; Delhi govt. announces motor vehicle policy aimed at transition to EVs

India’s Q2 GDP growth is 7.6%; surpasses analyst expectations

Data issued by the National Statistical Office (NSO) on Thursday indicated that India’s GDP grew by 7.6% on an annual basis in the second quarter (July-September), surpassing the forecasts of analysts. The previous quarter saw growth of 7.8% on an annual basis. According to a median survey conducted by ET among ten economists, the economy is growing at a rate of 6.7%.

The release stated that real GDP, or GDP at Constant (2011–12) Prices, is predicted to reach ₹41.74 lakh crore in Q2 2023–24, up from ₹38.78 lakh crore in Q2 2022–23. This represents an increase of 7.6 percent compared to Q2 2022–23’s 6.2 percent.

The growth estimate was set at 6.5% by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) rate-setting panel during its October meeting.

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/indicators/indias-gdp-grows-7-6-per-cent-in-q2-fy24/articleshow/105594183.cms

Editor’s Note: Driven by government expenditure and manufacturing, India’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 7.6% between July and September, far above economists’ predictions. The growth confirmed that the nation’s economy was the fastest-growing major one and indicated that it was likely to exceed the official fiscal year growth forecast of 6.5%. This sends out a positive signal for investors.

Foxconn to invest US$1.6 billion more in India

The manufacturer of iPhones, Hon Hai Precision Industry, intends to increase its presence in India by investing an additional NT$50 billion (US$1.6 billion) in building projects.

The disclosure, which was made late on Monday in a Taiwanese exchange filing, just stated that the investment was for “operational needs” and provided no other information. The location of the new facilities and what they would build were not disclosed.

The announcement coincides with increasing tensions between Beijing and Washington as Hon Hai, formerly known as Foxconn Technology Group, and other Taiwanese contract manufacturers of electronics, continue to expand their businesses outside of China.

https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3243027/foxconn-maker-apples-iphones-invests-us16-billion-india-expansion-plan-amid-diversification-china

Editor’s Note: Foxconn continue to be bullish on India market and is persistently increasing its investment at various locations. This news is the latest on it.

Three more Semicon chip fabrication units to come up in India soon

Ashwini Vaishnaw, the Minister of Electronics and Information Technology, announced that three new semiconductor chip fabrication units would be coming to India in the coming months, bringing with them investments ranging from $8 billion to $12 billion, according to media reports. This comes after the massive semiconductor company AMD opened the AMD Technostar R&D campus, its largest worldwide design center, in Bengaluru as part of a major expansion of its engineering and research operations in the nation.

In September, Gujarat hosted the groundbreaking ceremony for Micron’s first chip packing plant in the country.

https://news.abplive.com/technology/india-three-new-chip-fabrication-units-open-manufacturing-ashwini-vaishnaw-1645967

AMD opens global design center in Bengaluru

AMD, a semiconductor firm, opened its global design center in Bengaluru on Tuesday.

About 3,000 engineers working on the design and development of semiconductor technologies, including as 3D stacking, AI, and machine learning, will be housed within the center.

The facility was opened by Minister of Electronics and IT Ashwini Vaishnaw. The campus is a component of the company’s $400 million investment in India that it would make over the next five years.

According to AMD, the campus will function as a center of excellence for the development of leading products in the areas of high-performance CPUs for PCs and data centers, graphics processing units (GPUs) for gaming and data centers, and adaptive SoCs (System-on-Chip) and FPGAs (Field-Programmable Gate Arrays) for embedded devices.

https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/karnataka/2023/nov/28/amd-opens-global-design-centre-in-bengaluru-2636955.html

NVIDIA and Netweb collaborate to produce GPU servers in India

In order to create servers for artificial intelligence (AI) and high-end computing applications, local computer server manufacturer Netweb Technologies has teamed with chipset manufacturer NVIDIA, the firm announced on Tuesday.

Due to the high need for AI technology development, NVIDIA has an 88 percent market share worldwide in the GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) chipset market.

According to Netweb Technologies, it is now a manufacturing partner for the GH200 Grace Hopper Superchip MGX server architecture and the NVIDIA Grace CPU Superchip.

https://www.ptinews.com/news/business/-netweb-partners-nvidia-to-make-gpu-servers-in-india-/696690.html#:~:text=New%20Delhi%2C%20Nov%2028%20(PTI,the%20company%20said%20on%20Tuesday.

HCL estimated to invest $400 million to establish a chip plant in Karnataka

According to reports, the HCL Group is moving closer to establishing an Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT) facility in Karnataka, also known as a chip packing unit.

Reports state that the facility will be “small-to-medium sized” and that the expected investment would be $400 million. The group renowned for its $12.6 billion IT arm HCLTech is in active talks with the state government, which has offered land both near the international airport in Bangalore.

Officials point out that Mysuru’s plentiful water resources make it a good fit for OSAT and fab fabrication. The initiative, which signifies HCL Group’s return to technology hardware and reinforces its groundbreaking role in India’s history of IT manufacturing, has been incentivized by the state government.

https://www.manufacturingtodayindia.com/sectors/hcl-groups-400-million-osat-facility-venture-signals-semiconductor-expansion-in-karnataka#:~:text=HCL%20Group%20is%20edging%20closer,stands%20at%20around%20%24400%20million

Editor’s Note: The above 4 news items are on our watch on the latest development from the Semiconductor initiatives from India geography. The government is expecting 3 more units be coming up in the near future and many industry players are investing in developing the semicon activities in India.

Delhi govt. announces motor vehicle policy aimed at transition to EVs

In an effort to reduce the annual bad air crisis in the Capital caused by vehicle emissions among a number of other factors, the Delhi government notified the Delhi Motor Vehicle Aggregator and Delivery Service Provider Scheme on Wednesday. This scheme requires all cab aggregators and delivery service providers to convert their entire fleet to electric by 2030.

The policy applies to all aggregators offering passenger transport in Delhi, including those engaged in delivery services and e-commerce vehicles, according to Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot. Those who are interested in participating must register with the government within 90 days of the notification date and obtain a licence. The licence has a five-year validity period.

https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/delhi-news/delhi-govt-notifies-cab-aggregator-policy-fleets-to-switch-to-electric-101701281802617.html

Editor’s Note: As we have mentioned in many of our earlier news updates, EV market is expected to grow in India manifold. The news is the direction towards Govt. pushing for EV adoption in public transportation. Considering the size of Indian market these kind of moves from various states as well as Center governments could create immense opportunities for the companies.