Two large semiconductor wafer fabrication plants have been cleared by the Government.

The two plants, costing Rs 7,500 crore (Rs 5,000 crore greenfield and Rs 2,500 crore refurbished), may be set up in public-private partnership, the Minister of State for Planning, Mr Ashwani Kumar, told newspersons here on Friday.

Earlier this week, an Empowered Committee had been set up for identifying technology and investors for setting up the facilities.

Demand-supply mismatch

Mr Kumar said there was need to narrow the huge demand-supply mismatch in the electronics sector. In 2009, the demand stood at $45 billion, whereas goods worth only $20 billion were produced domestically.

The demand is estimated to rise to $400 billion by 2020.

“With domestic capacity at $104 billion, we may have to import goods worth $300 billion by 2020. At this rate, this may even overshoot our oil import bill,” he said.

Manufacturing sector growth

To pep up manufacturing sector growth to 11-12 per cent in the 12th Plan period, the National Manufacturing and Investment Zones will be set up along the Eastern and Western rail corridors.

Another thrust area is rationalisation of water use and management, for which, a new regulatory framework was being put in place. Since water is a State subject, there needs to be a broad political consensus, he added,

The Commission is also working out ways to balance more power generation with a low-carbon regime. “We will be looking at mixes such as nuclear and hydropower,” Mr Kumar said.

Border districts

For development of border districts, the Minister said a proposal had been made to treat 200 such areas on a par with backward districts.

With 600 million people expected to be living in cities by 2030, urban infrastructure is under pressure.

Investments

“We will need investments of Rs 60 lakh crore over the next 20 years for urban renewal and infrastructure development. For that we need public-private-partnerships as public resources are not enough,” he said.

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