New Delhi, Nov. 7 -- Union electronics and IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Friday warned "frivolous" applicants to stay away from the government's electronics and semiconductor incentive schemes. He asked the secretary of the ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY) to reject 18-19 applications under the Electronic Component Manufacturing Scheme (ECMS) that the government has identified as non-serious "placeholder" applicants. "Frivolous applicants, please stay away. We only want applicants who want to add value to the country and are aligned with PM Modi's Atmanirbhar (self-reliant) objective. Everybody else is not welcome," Vaishnaw said. "We don't want people who take advantage of government policies. Those days are gone. That was the pre-Modi era. Only serious guys will survive." His remarks came as MeitY approved 12 projects worth Rs.7,503 crore in the sixth tranche of ECMS. The ministry also launched a web portal inviting applications under Semicon 2.0, the second phase of the government's flagship semiconductor programme. The portal will not accept an application unless it is complete, said the minister. Vaishnaw said Semicon 2.0 would count as a success if it brings three large semiconductor equipment manufacturers and five chemical and gas manufacturers to India. "We know that most equipment manufacturers would not like to go out of their parent country. We know their governments will not like them to come out and set up units in India. We know that the precision required for many of these equipments will be difficult to build in our country. But still we want to make an attempt," said Vaishnaw. He said getting the first unit under 2.0 would be the hardest part, as it was in the first phase of the mission. "When Micron and Apple came, the confidence of the world changed," he said. He asked officials to be "ruthless" in selecting the first unit, saying it "will set the benchmark for the rest of the world." Under the first phase of Semicon, launched in 2021 with an outlay of Rs.76,000 crore, 12 units were approved comprising of the Tata fabrication plant, several assembly and packaging units, micro-led display fab and a silicon carbide fab. Five of the 12 units have begun production....