EU Chips Act

EU Chips Act

Part of: Prelims and GS-II International Relations and GS-III Economy

Context: The European Union has planned to unveil the EU Chips Act that will mobilise more than €43 billion ($49.1 billion) of public and private investments and enable the EU to reach its ambition to double its current market share of semiconductors to 20% in 2030.

Key takeaways 

• Getting to 20% of the global market share of chips production would mean basically quadrupling the industry’s efforts.
• The plan also hopes to limit the bloc’s dependence on Asia for semiconductor which is a key component used in electric cars and smartphones.
• Significance: The production of chips has become a strategic priority in Europe as well as the United States, after the shock of the pandemic choked off supply, bringing factories to a standstill and emptying stores of products.
• The manufacturing of semiconductors overwhelmingly takes place in Taiwan, China and South Korea.

Do You Know?

• It is estimated that the semiconductor industry is growing fast and can reach $1 trillion dollar in this decade. India can grow fast and reach $64 billion by 2026 from $27 billion today. 
• Mobiles, wearables, IT and industrial components are the leading segments in the Indian semiconductor industry contributing around 80% of the revenues in 2021. The mobile and wearables segment is valued at $13.8 billion and is expected to reach $31.5 billion in 2026

News Source: TH