Team Siliconindia

• Andhra Pradesh IT Minister Nara Lokesh proposes a semiconductor unit with Singapore’s support, building on MoUs with Indichip and Japan’s Yitoa for a Rs 14,000 crore chip plant in Kurnool.
• Talks held with Google Cloud to establish a chip design facility in Visakhapatnam, aligning with AP’s data city and tech infrastructure plans.
• As part of CM Naidu’s Singapore visit, AP aims to boost global partnerships in semiconductors, green energy, and smart infrastructure for sustainable growth.

Andhra Pradesh's Minister for IT and Electronics Nara Lokesh has mooted setting up a semiconductor unit in the state with Singapore's technical and strategic guidance. The move is made when Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu is on a visit to Singapore, where he is pursuing deepening engagement with the island nation across sectors such as data centres, green energy, logistics, and smart infrastructure.

Lokesh, to the intended partners in Singapore's tech and semiconductor community, emphasized Andhra Pradesh's determination to be a leading node in India's semiconductor push. The concept draws from the state's already signed MoU with Indichip Semiconductors and Japan's Yitoa Micro Technology Ltd. to create India's first private chip-making factory in Kurnool, with a proposed Rs 14,000 crore plant specializing in Silicon Carbide chip manufacturing. This facility, situated in the Orvakal Mega Industrial Hub, plans to increase wafer production from 10,000 to 50,000 units per month in a few years.

Lokesh also interacted with top Google Cloud executives, requesting the giant to consider establishing a chip design facility in Visakhapatnam as an add-on to AP's data city projects. He laid stress on the fact that Google's server infrastructure growth and chip design presence could find the region as a strategic alternative to current hotspots in China and Taiwan.

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The minister's Singapore agenda also involves attending the Andhra Pradesh Singapore Business Forum, diaspora outreach activities, and talks with international companies and government officials. During meetings with YouTube and Tezaract, he organised the setting up of a Creator Academy in AP, while investors such as Keppel Corporation and GIC expressed renewed interest across industries ranging from infrastructure to green energy and education.

Lokesh reaffirmed that technology-intensive policies of Andhra Pradesh are intended to make things run smoothly and invite high-end investments. As India's Semiconductor Mission progresses and industry proposals are in advanced stages of clearance, Andhra Pradesh is well on its way to becoming an important piece of the national chip-making puzzle.

If achieved, the semiconductor cluster supported by Singapore's experience would go a long way in enhancing Andhra Pradesh's industrial base to fit into the state's overall vision of sustainable growth, technological leadership, and global integration under its Viksit Maharashtra-type push for development in the east coast state.