Israel’s OCS oversees government sponsored support of R&D catalysing development of innovative state-of-the-art technologies. The MoU, which is in its final stages, official sources told Deccan Herald, will see two-way transfer of technology in the semiconductor space between Israel and Karnataka.

The move follows recent visit of high-powered delegation from the State to Israel to scout for tie-ups with semiconductor industries in that country. A similar trade and business mission is being planned to Taiwan and Korea early March in order to strike similar MoUs with these two countries as well, they added.

Sources said, while India is recognised for its design capabilities, chip manufacturing, on the other hand, has been restricted to captive centres for defence and aerospace, while Asian counterparts have preferred outsourced partners for chip fabrication, assembly, test and packing.  This is because these countries have national agenda to promote semiconductor industry through proactive policies. In fact, sources said, Karnataka is also keen to take a delegation to China and enter into an MoU with that country. Currently, this is in an exploratory state, they added.

While China has its 863 National Plan intended to stimulate development of advanced technologies in a wide range of fields, Japan has STARC — Semiconductor Technology Academic Research Centre consortium co-founded by major Japanese semiconductor companies, while Korea boasts of IT839 established by Korean Ministry of Information & Communication. IT839 means eight new IT services to be deployed within three to four years so that service operators invest on three new wireless broadband and secure communication infrastructures to offer high-quality ubiquitous service. Taiwan boasts of System On Chip consortium, a non-profit organisation formed by Taiwan’s Industrial Technology & Research Institute and Institute for Information Industries.

Incidentally, according to India Semiconductor Association-Frost & Sullivan Report, the Indian electronics total market and total available market is expected to grow at CAGRs of 19.8 per cent and 21.4 per cent, respectively to reach US$58.4 billion and US$37.1 billion in 2011 as against US$40.7 billion and $25.4 billion respectively in 2009.

Furthermore, it notes that the Indian semiconductor market grew 15.6 per cent in 2009 as against the global market that shrunk by 11 per cent from 2008.