Modi Oversees the Semiconductor Deal on Dutch Trip

Dutch tech giant ASML signed a deal with Tata Electronics Saturday to help build and scale up a semiconductor plant in India, overseen by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his tour of the Netherlands. ASML, which makes cutting-edge machines to manufacture semi-conductors, said it would “enable the establishment and ramp-up” of the Dholera plant in Modi’s home state of Gujarat in western India.

The Dutch firm would deploy its advanced lithography tools in the plant, which enable the rapid mass production of high-tech microchips, found in everything from cars to mobile phones.

The deal came as the Netherlands and India struck an economic partnership accord, following on from a free-trade agreement between India and the European Union that Modi dubbed “the mother of all deals.” ASML, Europe’s biggest tech firm by market value, said it saw “many compelling opportunities” in the Indian semiconductor sector. “We are committed to establishing long-term partnerships in the region,” said ASML’s chief executive officer Christophe Fouquet in a statement. Tata Electronics’ plant, with a planned investment of $11bn, will make semiconductor chips for the AI sector, as well as the car industry and other economic segments.

New Delhi sees the European bloc as an important source of much-needed technology and investment to rapidly upscale its infrastructure and create millions of new jobs. On the other side, the EU has eyed India – the world’s most populous nation and a fast-growing economy – as an important market for the future. “India’s strides in the world of semiconductors offers immense opportunities for the youth of our nation,” said Modi. “This is a sector in which we will keep adding vigour in the times to come.” Prime Minister Rob Jetten told reporters that Dutch companies “can help India enormously to invest heavily there in the coming years and to create new employment for Indians”. “It offers Dutch companies tremendous opportunities to invest in India, but also to attract Indian talent to the Netherlands,” said the Dutch PM.

Earlier Saturday, Modi also addressed a large crowd of Indian expats and visited Dutch King Willem Alexander. During his trip, he inspected the centuries-old Chola Plates, rings with engraved copper plates, that are being returned to India by Leiden University.