State-run telecom operator BSNL has tied up with US-based WiMAX solutions firm Soma Networks for the largest WiMAX deployment in the country covering four states in three circles. The proposed infrastructure would provide services to about 20 crore people in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Goa.

Toyota Motor Corporation President, Mr Katsuaki Watanabe's, visit to the Capital on Monday and meeting with the Prime Minister and other top government personnel seems to be a harbinger of good news for the country. There are indications that the company is set to tread a similar path as global car makers Suzuki and Hyundai, and is actively looking at making the country an export hub for its small car.

The Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI) has announced the formation of a solar group as part of the association's new and global photovoltaic (PV) initiatives.

West Bengal, which is pitching itself to the national IT community as a software and BPO hotspot, is about to turn a new leaf. After earning a name in the IT services and BPO spectrum, the state now hopes to strike in big in hardware.
The Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government is leaving no stone unturned to attract big ticket investments on the computer hardware and semiconductor front. The state is relying on its rich technical talent pool to carve a niche. Some early stage investment proposals are already flowing in.
The state IT department has unleashed a slew of initiatives to promote West Bengal as the next chip design hub in India. It plans to set up a fab facility christened ‘India Design Centre’ (IDC). It has floated a semiconductor venture capital fund, initiated advanced IT hardware and chip designing training courses and drawn up a state-level semiconductor policy.
“We won’t target the entire spectrum of the semiconductor industry. Our primary aim would be to attract sizeable investments into areas like VLSI, chip design, testing and fab prototype development,” said state IT secretary Siddharth.
The state expects the biggest pull factor to be construction of IDC at Salt Lake’s IT zone. Kolkata-based infrastructure development firm Infinity Infotech Parks has already bagged the mandate to develop this facility over 1.5 acres at an investment of about Rs 120 crore. The government expects to attract at least Rs 700-800 crore of investment for this facility. While IDC is expected to be ready for possession by end-2008, potential investors are already queuing up. These include the likes of Intel, IBM and even some Taiwanese semiconductor firms. Videocon, too, is considering setting up a chip manufacturing facility here.
To lend further impetus, the state has formed an IT advisory committee with some of the biggest names in the semiconductor industry to market itself as a hardware hub. “Even industry body India Semiconductor Association (ISA) is working closely with the government to attract investment,” said Siddharth. ISA has identified the state as one of the six potential markets for semiconductor investment in India, along with Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and the National Capital Region. “We feel West Bengal has tremendous potential to emerge as India’s hub in the VLSI design segment,” said ISA president Poornima Shenoy.

Venture capitalists invested $543 million in 98 Indian deals during 2007, according to a VC researcher. Venture Intelligence, an Indian-based VC and private equity tracking firm, found that the 2007 investment total was slightly higher than 2006, when 94 deals attracted about $500 million.

The Future Horizons Annual Semiconductor Industry Forecast Seminar (IFS2008) took place yesterday in London, and the overall message was optimistic. In a survey of forecasts including those of Gartner Dataquest, VLSI Research, iSuppli and WSTS, among others, the average growth projection for the industry stood at 8.9% - another year of single digit growth but, remarked Malcolm Penn, CEO of Future Horizons, the year holds potential for a bounce back from the structural problems experienced in 2007.

Texas Instruments Inc. has set up the "TI Innovation Fund" and "TI Outstanding Educator Award" after having successfully carried out its China University Program for 12 years. The new initiatives will support quality education and scientific research in China's universities, as well as highlight innovative efforts of China educators. Moreover, the projects will cater to the need of the development of China's semiconductor industry, and will further accelerate the transformation from laboratory achievements to feasible mass applications.

West Bengal is poised to woo investors for its upcoming Rs 200-crore chip design facility — the India Design Centre (IDC). For starters, the state IT department has decided to showcase IDC before a bunch of leading global semiconductor players like Intel, Texas Instruments, Qualcomm, Tensilica Inc, Cadence Design Systems, Powerchip of Taiwan, Infineon Technologies of Germany at the Vision Summit 2008, being organised by the India Semiconductor Association (ISA) next month.
ISA president Poornima Shenoy said: "West Bengal plans to be at the ISA Vision Summit on February 18 and 19 at Bangalore. The state plans to showcase IDC at this summit and address concerns of the semiconductor design industry. This is a leadership business summit attracting decision makers from within and outside India." Wipro chairman Azim Premji and Ashok Soota, chairman and CEO of Mindtree Consulting, are some of the key speakers.

The Economy grew an impressive 9.6% in 2006-07, the highest in the past 18 years. Releasing the revised estimates here on Thursday, finance minister P Chidambaram said the government was confident of achieving "a close-to-9%" growth rate in the current fiscal.