Union minister HD Kumaraswamy questions $2 billion subsidies to US semiconductor firm in Gujarat
The Janata Dal (United) leader later said that he had been ‘misquoted’ and acknowledged the need to bring the semiconductor manufacturing industry to India.
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Union minister and Janata Dal (United) leader HD Kumaraswamy on Friday questioned the need for investments in the country from a United States-based semiconductor manufacturer as well as the Rs 3.2 crore in subsidies that it was getting in return for every job it creates, The Times of India reported.
However, Kumaraswamy later told reporters that he had been “misquoted” and said that the semiconductor industry was one of “strategic” importance for India.
The Janata Dal (United) leader on Tuesday assumed charge as the Union steel and heavy industries minister in the recently formed Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance government.
During a live address to party workers in Karnataka on Friday, Kumaraswamy asked why India needed investments from US firm Micron Technology, which is setting up a $2.5-billion (approximately Rs 200 crore) unit in Gujarat and could receive as much as Rs 3.2 crore in subsidies for each job created as a result, The Times of India reported.
“The new manufacturing unit will generate about 5,000 jobs,” Kumaraswamy said. “For this, we are giving them $2 billion in subsidies...If you calculate, that’s 70% of the company’s total investment.”
Kumaraswamy told party workers that he had asked officials whether it was justifiable to allocate such a significant amount to the semiconductor project.
“Conversely, there are small-scale industries...In Peenya [an industrial...
