Thursday, December 30th 2021
India is Trying to Win Over Intel
Remember that US$10 billion incentive India approved earlier this month? Well, it looks like India is planning on using at least some of that incentive to win over Intel, as the Indian Minister for IT and Electronics, Ashwini Vaishnaw welcomed Intel to India in a tweet the other day. Some news outlets seem to have taken this tweet as an agreement has already been struck, but this doesn't seem very likely, as Intel hasn't provided any kind of comment on the topic.
That said, the Indian incentive will pay for up to 50 percent of the cost of building a new fab, which we know isn't pocket change, considering that a cutting edge fab can easily cost in excess of US$10 billion. However, it seems highly unlikely that Intel would build a chip fab in India, based on the requirements for such a fab, not only in terms of logistics, but also when it comes to power and water supplies and least not a suitable labour force. What might happen is that Intel sets up something like a chip packaging plant there in the future, much like what it's planning to potentially do in Italy and that the company is expanding in Malaysia.
Sources:
@AshwiniVaishnaw, via Tom's Hardware
That said, the Indian incentive will pay for up to 50 percent of the cost of building a new fab, which we know isn't pocket change, considering that a cutting edge fab can easily cost in excess of US$10 billion. However, it seems highly unlikely that Intel would build a chip fab in India, based on the requirements for such a fab, not only in terms of logistics, but also when it comes to power and water supplies and least not a suitable labour force. What might happen is that Intel sets up something like a chip packaging plant there in the future, much like what it's planning to potentially do in Italy and that the company is expanding in Malaysia.
22 Comments on India is Trying to Win Over Intel
more on the economics of this subject:
market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=244486
I doubt intel will come here. Labour force isn't really great for manufacturing.
I think it's getting better, but it will take a really long time to get to near where it should be.
I don’t even mean political bias, but this isn’t news, it’s not even a rumor… it’s just a charade that has no real impact on silicon manufacturing.
Sure, maybe something will come of it, but front page news, and these comments? Do better TPU.
Charity starts at home, they can f-off.
I'm still friends with the guy that was in charge of the software team at my old employer and although he's moved on, we've done some projects together that have all had satisfactory outcome or better. Much like the Philippines, a country that's linguistically and educationally positioned to get a lot of work, but logistics are terrible, plus the nation isn't what you'd call stable. Traffic is hell and you'd think it's always rush hour, judging by the amount of vehicles on the roads. The more modern parts are actually quite nice, but yeah, they have a lot of issues to solve. That said, it's not like the PRC is miles ahead and Intel has fabs there... Sorry, but why isn't this news? We've already written about India's attempt at getting semiconductor businesses to build fabs there, so this is highly relevant, as it's about the same pile of money that's the politically are now clearly trying to use to entice Intel to open up some chip manufacturing related business in India. India has realised that they need semiconductor businesses, or they're going to fall too far behind to stay competitive with the PRC. Also, you're not forced to read this kind of content if you're not interested. A capable industry isn't the same as good logistics though. Everything moves slowly in India due to an aging infrastructure that was left behind by the British. Then again, Vietnam is in a similar places, although it's a much smaller country.
An article like this can't help but get political. Funny how lots of stuff in many industries revolve around that.
From what I have seen and experienced primarily from a software development standpoint - When it comes to random Western company outsourcing to India they are going there for the cheapest possible prices and get what they pay for. On the other hand there are a lot of smart and capable people there but their salary range is quite close or sometimes more than somewhere geographically and culturally closer in most cases.
Politics is more about the opposition of an ideology, or even a simple disagreement between parties. A news piece seeking to highlight a nations interest in gaining a tech edge is news for TPU. It crosses into politics if the author slants their work, or op-eds it into an ideological stance. Or, if the reader then posts something that is motivated by ideology, rather than cold, hard fact. I think where this thread is in danger of crossing lines is the danger of generalising about an entire nations work ethic.
To be honest, so far, I've seen nothing truly objectionable in this thread. But that's just my opinion.
And as anywhere else in the world, people who excel at their jobs, tend to be able to demand more pay.
I'd say the cultural issues with India vs the PRC are vastly easier to overcome, even compared to Taiwan in many cases.
This is based on my own work experience, having worked with people in all three nations.