India’s tech news headlines in March of 2024
India’s many semiconductor and advanced tech moves continued in March 2024; India-Philippines Tech Summit provided new avenues for collaboration; India’s space technology moves continued to grow, with sights on an Indian space station; the Indian semiconductor industry saw major developments with multiple partnerships, and facility announcements; and more.
KPMG: Unlocking India’s digital potential
- India: Union Cabinet green lights Gujarat chip plant in collaboration Japan’s Renesas and Thailand’s Stars Microelectronics, focusing on trains, defence, space and EVs / read it here
- India: Gov’t approves semiconductor fabrication plant partnership for Gujarat between Tata Electronics and Taiwan’s Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp / read it here
- India: Gov’t approves semiconductor assembly and test facility plan for Assam state, to be operated by Tata Semiconductor Assembly unit and partners, focusing on semicon packaging / read it here
- Mobile network speeds: “Asia Pacific markets saw an improvement of 5.2Mbps on average — India, Malaysia and South Korea saw the highest speed increases… of 36.1Mbps, 17.9Mbps and 14.8Mbps, respectively.” / read it here
- India preps for 3 unmanned space launches prior to manned launch, with first G1 mission set for July to test Gaganyaan Crew Module and featuring a humanoid robot / read it here
PwC India Payments Handbook 2023-2028 (direct pdf link)
- India: Digantara raises $2M with Space-Mission Assurance Platform – Space-MAP – leveraging multi-modal data pool to provide stakeholders with insights aiding safety and sustainability of space operations / read it here
- Indo-Pacific: India and Germany resolve to collaborate on hi-tech for military use, with joint miltary exercises also under discussion / read it here
- India: An intro to 7 Indian semiconductor-related firms boosting the country’s tech ambitions / read it here
- India: Samsung Semiconductor India Research unveils R&D facility in Bengaluru / read it here
- India: An overview of the recent launch of Krutrim AI which, like Google’s Gemini, proved not quite ready for prime time, with hallucinations, factual errors and more in the mix / read it here
- India: OnGrid HR-tech firm expands SE Asia and Middle East footprint with Elockr ISO-certified background verifications and checks platform, delivering tamper-proof certificates of experience / read it here
Deloitte, NASSCOM, ISA: Opportunities for Indian downstream spacetech
- “Japanese foreign direct investment (FDI) in India was USD40.84 billion. In 2023 alone, this figure was USD1.79 billion, making Japan the fifth-largest investor in India…” / read it here
- India: mPokket raises $60M debt capital from credit arm of Baring Private Equity Asia with credit, insurance and ‘career acceleration’ products for underserved youthworking professionals and the self-employed / read it here
- India: IDfy identity verification and onboarding platform raised $27M with services including know-your-customer and risk/fraud mitigation, and a throughput of 60M verifications per month / read it here
- Inaugural India-Philippine Tech Summit took place recently, gathering stakeholders in digital domains for networking and to explor government-to-business and business-to-business partnerships / read it here
- India: US-based D-Matrix AI chips firm outlines goals for India as a crucial market, with sights on the country for 30% of its workforce / read it here
Deloitte: NewSpace, India’s space perspective
- India: Azimuth AI gains backing from UAE’s AUM Ventures with first generation of System-on-Chip products, developing purpose-built SoCs for smart city and broad EV applications / read it here
- India: Gujarat state gov’t reportedly has allotted 160 acres to Tata Group plan for the country’s first large-scale chip fabrication unit / read it here
- India: Gov’t approves $1.25BN investment in artificial intelligence, spanning computing infrastructure and development of large language models, targeting industry value of $17BN by 2027 / read it here
- ‘Assessing India’s Readiness to Assume a Greater Role in Global Semiconductor Value Chains’ from Information & Technology Innovation Foundation / read it here
- India: First 28nm semiconductors from Gujarat plant now under construction by Tata Group and Taiwan’s PSMC expected to be in hands by year-end 2026 / read it here
- India’s home-grown RISC-V chips, DIR-V VEGA, have debuted in development boards / read it here
Deloitte & NASSCOM: India’s emerging technology hubs
- India’s NASSCOM and Australia’s Business NSW ink MOU to facilitate market access for tech companies in the two markets, leveraging the Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement / read it here
- Competition Commission of India launches investigation into Google over unfair and discriminatory practices allegations directed at Google in-app billing system / read it here
- India: chargeMOD unveils growth plans, aiming to deploy additional 1200 EV chargers across India and 600 more in Kerala State, covering both fast- and slow-charge units / read it here
- India: Finance Minister states that cryptocurrencies cannot be a legal currency in India; they are simply assets for trading and speculation / read it here
- India: A brief look at the country’s moves towards use of blockchain tech, with documents from 9 federal organizations and provincial governments now on-chain / read it here
- Indian Space Research Org’n finalizes New Generation Launch Vehicle project team, building towards space station ambitions under Space Vision 2047 plan / read it here
- India: National deeptech startup policy reportedly now in the final stages of inter-ministerial consultations, with sights on an underpinning fund-of-funds / read it here
EY: The AIdea of India – the economic potential for Generative AI
- India: An overview of the challenges India’s nascent chips industry faces, both in terms of domestic funding capability and from China’s chip industry export ambitions / read it here
- India and France partner for Indo-Pacific Triangular Cooperation Fund focused on climate solutions and UN Sustainable Development Goals outcomes in Western Indian Ocean and wider Indo-Pacific region / read it here
- Indian Institute of Tech Madras partners Starburst, French aerospace and defense startup accelerator, to establish startup with backed by 100M Euros to boost India’s aviation, space and defense ecosystems / read it here
- A brief overview of emerging rivalry between India and Pakistan in the space domain / read it here
- Singapore: 70/30 Food Tech closes $700K seed extension round, launching R&D lab in India’s Bangalore for fungi mycelium-based protein products / read it here
- Investment NSW invites expressions of interest from NSW New Energy firms for participation in New Energy delegation to India, and to attend India Energy Storage Week in July / read it here
- India’s Tech Mahindra IT services major partners IBM for ‘Synergy Lounge’ in Singapore, looking to boost enterprise-level adoption of next-gen tech services AI, automation, cloud computing and beyond / read it here
- Consortium of Indian Industries in Malaysia and India ASEAN Startup Summit ink MOU looking to boost startup and innovation exchanges / read it here
- “Taiwan is also interested in stepping into the Indian semiconductor industry because the Indian government has already announced it would cover 50% of the costs of setting up semiconductor fabs.” / read it here
Critical technologies, globally: News in March 2024
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