India, Japan Pact On Semiconductor Supply Chain Gets Cabinet's Go-Ahead

The Union Cabinet has approved a memorandum of cooperation between India and Japan on a Semiconductor Supply Chain Partnership, an official statement said on Wednesday. The memorandum of cooperation between the two countries was signed in July.

"The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi was apprised of a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) signed in July 2023, between the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology of the Republic of India and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan on Japan-India Semiconductor Supply Chain Partnership," the statement said.

Japan has become the second Quad partner after the US to sign an agreement with India for the joint development of the semiconductor ecosystem and maintain the resilience of its global supply chain.

"The MoC intends to strengthen cooperation between India and Japan towards enhancement of semiconductor supply chain, recognising the importance of semiconductor for the advancement of industries and digital technologies," the statement said.

The MoC will come into effect from the date of signature of the parties and remain in force for a period of five years.

"Both G2G and B2B Bilateral Cooperation on opportunities to advance resilient semiconductor supply chains and leverage complementary strengths," the statement said.

In view of synergies and complementarities between the two nations, the "India-Japan Digital Partnership" (IJDP) was launched during the visit of the prime minister to Japan in October 2018 to boost cooperation and new initiatives within the scope of cooperation in science and technology and information and communications technologies.

"Based on the ongoing IJDP and India-Japan Industrial Competitiveness Partnership (IJICP), this MoC on Japan-India Semiconductor Supply Chain Partnership would further broaden and deepen the cooperation in the field of electronics ecosystem," the statement said.

Japan is among the top five countries to have a semiconductor ecosystem, with around 100 semiconductor manufacturing plants. 

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