Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday began his engagements in the US with a "productive interaction" with President and CEO of Qualcomm Cristiano E Amon during which they discussed investment opportunities offered in India's telecommunications and electronics sector.
Modi, who arrived in Washington on Wednesday on an official visit to the US during which he will hold the first face-to-face meeting with President Joe Biden and his deputy Kamala Harris, held a one-on-one meeting with Amon here.
"Talking technology... @cristianoamon and PM @narendramodi had a productive interaction. PM Modi highlighted the vast opportunities India offers. Mr. Amon expressed keenness to work with India in areas such as 5G and other @_DigitalIndia efforts," the Prime Minister's Office tweeted.
Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said that they discussed recent electronics and telecom manufacturing Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes; and measures to strengthen the innovation ecosystem.
"Toward making a global innovation hub! PM @narendramodi in conversation with @cristianoamon, CEO @Qualcomm on investment opportunities in hi-tech sectors in India. Discussed recent electronics & telecom manufacturing PLI schemes; & measures to strengthen innovation ecosystem, he tweeted.
"During the meeting, they discussed investment opportunities offered in India's telecommunications and electronics sector. This included the recently launched Production Linked Incentive Scheme (PLI) for Electronics System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM) as well as developments in the semiconductor supply chain in India, the ministry said in a release.
Strategies for building the local innovation ecosystem in India were also discussed, it added.
Sources said Amon expressed enthusiasm to work with India on ambitious digital transformation programmes including in 5G, PM WANI and others. He also expressed interest partnering with India to work in the field of semiconductors.
Prime Minister Modi assured him that India will proactively work on the proposals made by them.
He also stressed that India has the scale for ambitious projects. He said that India has prepared 5G standards and urged Qualcomm to actively participate as they did in case of NAVIK, sources said.
Modi also said that since Qualcomm has trusted Indian talent already, it can now trust Indian talent and start manufacturing with the advantage the PLI scheme offers.
He also spoke about the new liberalised drone policy and said that Qualcomm could take part in new opportunities in the new emerging market, according to sources.
"We are so proud of our partnership (with India), Amon told Doordarshan in an interview after his meeting with the Prime Minister.
Qualcomm is now pioneering its way to 5G with a new era of intelligent products that are revolutionizing industries, including automotive, computing, and IoT.
"We talked about 5G and the celebration of 5G. We talked about an incredible opportunity to advance the industry not only domestically in India but India as an export of technology, he said in response to a question.
Amon said they spoke about digital transformation enabled by 5G combined with the design in India.
"We talked about semiconductors, which is kind of an important topic of conversation. And we talked about the opportunity to continue to build an incredible mobile ecosystem that is developing in India. We are very pleased with the conversations and we're very, very happy with everything we're doing together with India, he said.
Responding to a question, Amon said Qualcomm would continue to invest in India.
India, he said, could be an important destination for the semiconductor industry, subject to the availability of infrastructure.
India, he said, is a great place for investors, not only to invest directly, but also to support other companies. For example, Qualcomm has a designing India program that helps several startup companies in India. Qualcomm, he said, has been very successful to date with all the investments that are made in India.
The Prime Minister's approach to drive economic growth in making India a destination for investment has been very successful, he said. "We welcome that, he said.
The meeting with chip giant Amon assumes significance, given India's push for the 5G technology to be safe and secure.
The San Diego-based company creates semiconductors, software, and services related to wireless technology.
A world leader in 3G, 4G, and next-generation wireless technology innovations for more than 30 years, Qualcomm is now pioneering its way to 5G with a new era of intelligent products that are revolutionising industries, including automotive, computing, and Internet of Things (IoT).
India is looking for a major investment from Qualcomm, which has a huge presence in the country, including Research and Development.
