Communications and IT Minister Dayanidhi Maran, who is on a five-day visit to the US, met Intel chairman Craig Barrett in San Francisco Tuesday and asked him to consider setting up a chip manufacturing unit in India.

Maran also handed over a letter from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that extended an invitation to Intel for an advanced test manufacturing facility in India, an official statement here said.

During the discussions, Maran impressed upon the Intel chief the benefits to Intel if the chipmaker set up its facility in India.

He also informed Barrett about the various policy initiatives taken by the Indian government to promote foreign direct investment in the IT hardware-manufacturing sector.

The communications and IT ministry has been in talks for the past eight months with Intel to press for a manufacturing facility in India, which has been short-listed as one of the possible locations.