Intel may set up $400 m facility in India

Intel raised issues regarding basic infrastructure availability in India, but it has decided to speed up its decision-making on setting up a fab in India. ‘‘I told (Intel CEO Craig Barrett) that we will take on matters such as water and transportation availability with concerned state governments,’’ he said.

Meanwhile, Applied Materials, the world’s largest supplier of products and services to the semiconductor industry, and global IT major IBM are ready to team up with two Indian firms and set up a $3 billion state-of-the-art facility here. The four-member consortium will prepare a feasability report before the chip manufacturing unit is established, said Maran. The consortium’s Indian partners are India Semiconductor Association and India Electronics Manufacturing Corp, he said.

FDI hike awaits go-ahead from PMO

NEW DELHI: Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran said on Tuesday that guidelines to implement the hike in telecom FDI to 74 per cent are awaiting clearance from the PMO. ‘‘CDMA operators are meeting WPC on Tuesday and GSM will meet on Wednesday. But before we get into price wars, let operators install more towers and make more efficient use of spectrum allocated to them,’’ Maran said. He also said telecom subscribers will soon have uniform rates across the country, under a ‘OneIndia’ banner. — ENS