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Israel trumps India to Intel
Israel has beaten India to an Intel chip fabrication plant, demonstrating yet again that for all its over-hyped reputation of being an I-T power, India has a long way to go before winning cutting edge manufacturing technology. Reports from Israel say Intel has agreed to build a $ 4 billion plant in Kiryat Gat in southern Israel, preferring it to bids from India and Ireland. It will be the biggest foreign investment in Israel’s history. The deal is considered so important that both Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s office and the Ministry of Trade issued statements announcing it, even as Intel officials withheld confirmation.
Israel won over Intel after agreeing to pony up a $ 525 million grant, about 15 per cent of the $ 3.5 billion initial project cost, and a compromise between the 12.5 per cent Tel Aviv offered and the 20 per cent Intel wanted. The production plant is expected to create 2,000 jobs directly and a similar number indirectly. Such a deal is evidently beyond the scope of dawdling India which functions on the basis of extended dialogue and consensus in its fractious and disorganised polity.
Industry insiders say India never realistically stood a chance of getting a chip fabrication plant since this involved picture-perfect infrastructure, including reliable power and water supply, and also massive government concessions.
<B>Chidanand RAJGHATTA</B> <I>Source: Times of India</I>
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