New Delhi: Three companies including Moser Baer, Videocon and Titan Energy have applied for incentives under the semiconductor policy, which was announced by the government three months ago. The companies made a proposal to the government with a combined investment value of about $5 billion dollar, reported Business Line.

The IT Ministry has also received enquiries from 14 companies that include some of the biggest companies such as Suzlon, Reliance, Solar Semiconductor, and Tata. Official sources said that while Moser Baer plans to manufacture solar photovoltaic cells or modules, Titan Energy Systems would start with solar cells and modules and get into wafer and poly-silicon, at a later stage. The proposal by Videocon pertains to a proposed LCD unit.

"The response to the semiconductor policy has been positive, and although it is still in early days the applications by various players and the interest generated is heartening. The policy, along with the Ministry's initiatives on hardware manufacturing and IT investment regions will provide the necessary impetus," said, M. Madhavan Nambiar, Additional Secretary in the IT Department. The proposals will now be evaluated by an appraisal committee, headed by Nambiar.

The Centre has announced capital subsidy for investors setting up chip manufacturing units. The Centre offers an incentive of 20 percent of the capital expenditure during the first 10 years for the units within the special economic zone (SEZ) and 25 percent of the capital expenditure for non-SEZ units.

Incentives have also been rolled out for setting up manufacturing facilities for liquid crystal displays, organic light emitting diodes, plasma display panels, photovoltaic cells, storage devices, solar cells and micro and nano technology products, including assembly and testing of these products.