India expects at least a dozen semiconductor manufacturers to start building up local plants in the next 2-3 years after the South Asian nation gave incentives for the industry, the country’s information and technology minister said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government is working on developing a full ecosystem for the chip manufacturing industry and will start taking applications under its incentive scheme from Jan. 1, Ashwini Vaishnaw, who also holds the railways and telecom portfolio, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television’s Haslinda Amin and Rishaad Salamat.

“The feedback has been quite positive. All the large firms are in negotiations with Indian partners and several want to come directly to set up their operations here. Almost all large ones are talking to us,” Vaishnaw added.

The government plans to get engaged in numerous phases of chipmaking, including silicon and display fabs and semiconductor packaging. It will start with the fabrication of mature 28nm to 45nm components and will request a road map from potential businesses for transitioning to more sophisticated manufacturing processes over time, the minister added. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and Samsung Electronics Co., the main makers of the world’s most advanced chips, have proved themselves eager to grow worldwide with recent announcements of new fabs in the US and Japan, helped by local government backing.

Last week, the Modi government approved sops worth 760 billion rupees ($10 billion) spread over six years to boost local chip production, a move which is likely to help the South Asian nation reduce its reliance on expensive imports of the material used in everything from mobile phones to electric vehicles amid a global shortage. Currently, India relies on international manufacturers for practically all of its semiconductor demand.

India joins a growing list of nations from Japan to Europe and the U.S. in putting aside multibillion-dollar subsidies for local chipmaking, after a worldwide scarcity of the key components walloped a variety of critical industries and revealed economic weaknesses.

The government has already notified the proposal and expects compound semiconductor units and design and packaging businesses to gain clearance within the next 3-4 months, Vaishnaw added.

“In next 2-3 years time frame, we see at least 10-12 semiconductors going into production, we see display fab going into production or maybe finalizing completion,” the minister, who has an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and attended the Indian Institute of Technology, said. “At least 50-60 designing organizations will have begun creating the devices in the next 2-3 years”.

On the anticipated 5G auctions, Vaishnaw said the telecommunications regulator is undertaking conversations with the industry and is set to present its recommendations by March next year and the spectrum price is expected to be “reasonable”. The government expects to start 5G services by Oct.-Dec. 2022.

After giving a rescue package for ailing mobile phone carriers earlier in Sept., the government is also looking at a full revamp of the industry, examining methods to allow businesses to merge, develop and function without several bureaucratic permissions, Bloomberg News had earlier reported.