Davos: Describing 'trust and talent' as the two most important factors, senior Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said here that global companies are very enthused about India, with existing players planning to scale up and several new ones wanting to set shop in the country.
The Minister for Railways, Information and Broadcasting, and Electronics and Information Technology said many new semiconductor players have also shown their interest while his ministry has also taken up the task of making new chipsets, which would be designed and fabricated in India and would be of use for multiple sectors.
Speaking to PTI here during the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, Vaishnaw also said that India is set for a leadership role in the area of artificial intelligence.
Asked about the biggest factor attracting investors towards India, he said, "There are multiple factors. There was a time when people used to evaluate a destination only on the basis of cost. But the first factor in any evaluation today is trust and that is very important".
"The way Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set a benchmark before the world through our foreign and economic policies, the trust element is very big there. The world recognises that trust and sees India as a trusted partner," he said.
Another very important factor is talent, the minister said. "The kind of talent pipeline we have is not there in many countries. Cost may be higher or lower, but such an impressive talent pool cannot be found anywhere. Trust and talent are two very important factors behind global investors looking at India," he added.
On Railways, the minister said he spent an entire day in Zurich and some other places before coming to Davos to meet Swiss rail officials and visit some plants.
"I took a detailed briefings on railway track maintenance practices of Switzerland, including what kind of technology they use and what are their protocols, practices and processes. I also asked them how they maintain their data, what kinds of tools and devices they use for maintaining the tracks, all basic details I tried to understand," he said.
"I always believe in learning and bringing the best practices to India," he added. Asked about the personal data protection rules, Vaishnaw said widespread consultations took place when the law was made, with nearly 24,000 inputs and even now the rules would be finalised only after wide consultations.
"From the feedback, we have received so far, there are very few concerns because it is a very good set of rules. "We have received positive feedback appreciating provisions for digital implementation, voluntary undertakings, credit penalties, and non-criminalised penalties, among others," he said.
"We have also received positive feedback from organisations working for the welfare of the children. Technology companies have said in their feedback that we are the first country to take a step where virtual tokens can be used to determine the type of use and type of data to bring a regulatory concept. Many countries have simply put a gate to stop those below a certain age group," the minister said.
"I don't think that is possible and we in India want everyone to have a freedom to use the power of the technology. At the same time, there should be safeguards for the negatives," he added.
On semiconductors, he said the first made-in-India chip will be rolled out this year and all five plants are progressing really well. A semiconductor roundtable was held here where all industry leaders were present and all of them exuded huge confidence, Vaishnaw said.
"I remember when the semiconductor programme was launched in 2022, there was some scepticism, among people, but today there is only confidence," he said.
Asked whether new players have shown interest here, Vaishnaw said, "Everyone is interested. Some want to set up the chemical plant, some are saying they are in the process of identifying parents, and some market players want to get into equipment manufacturing".
The minister said one needs to understand the strategic value of semiconductors, just like steel and chemicals, they have become the base of every industry.
"It is very important for this industry to develop in India. Now, we will take some more big initiatives. We are taking up a new target of making 25 chipsets.
"There would be some very important chips that would be useful for many sectors. Those would be designed in India and their intellectual property rights would be in India," he said. Vaishnaw said he also talked to several AI experts here.
"One of the speakers at a roundtable here used a very good term, T3 for India, China and the US for the top three countries who will lead in the technology arena. The speaker said that India is the only country which can lead in AI, AI chips and semiconductor design," he added.
Besides semiconductors, Vaishnaw said, investors have shown interest in several other sub-sectors of technology like AI, electronics manufacturing and GCCs, as well as in manufacturing, skilling, aviation, food processing, tourism and energy.
On Union Budget expectations, he said it will be a very good budget and the country will benefit a lot from the positive and forward-looking thoughts of the Prime Minister and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
