Mumbai: Singapore’s Home and Law Minister K. Shanmugam on Friday said Tata Sons will choose Singapore as a “key partner” for its semiconductor plans. Tata Sons Chairman N. Shanmugam gave this information to journalists after the meeting with Chandrasekaran. He said that there was an in-depth discussion on semiconductors in the meeting.
Shanmugam said, “If they (Tata) want, they can do business with anyone in the world. It is not that they have to do business in Singapore, but I think they will choose Singapore as a major partner, not just as a partner but as a major partner…” Shanmugam Manpower Minister and He is on a one-day visit to the country’s financial capital along with Tan See Lang, a junior minister in the Department of Trade and Industry.
He said that the South-East Asian country is a reliable destination for the international semiconductor industry. The Tata Group has been present in Singapore for more than five decades. The minister said Singapore or units based there account for 20 per cent of semiconductor equipment production globally.
It is noteworthy that the Tata Group has many ambitious plans in the field of semiconductor manufacturing, which include an investment of Rs 91,000 crore for a plant in Gujarat and Rs 27,000 crore for another plant in Assam. For this venture, it has partnered with Taiwan’s Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (PSMC).
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NITI Aayog B. Shanmugam did not give a clear answer when asked about V.R. Subramaniam’s call for India to reconsider its stance and join the 15-nation Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).
He said India had given several reasons for pulling out of talks to join the partnership in 2019. They included both broader economic and political issues and it is no longer known whether they were dealt with or not.
The minister said the outcome of the US elections could lead to an increase in bilateral and multilateral trade arrangements.
The two ministers will attend the anniversary celebrations of Singapore lender DBS in the evening. He will also attend a lunch hosted by Singapore’s investment arm Temasek.
At a meeting organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), he met industry stalwarts Jamshed Godrej, Jiya Modi, Naushad Forbes, R. Will also talk to Mukundan and CII Director General Chandrajit Banerjee.