Rama Krishna Sangem
PM Narendra Modi chaired Union Cabinet on February 29, Thursday approved the setting up of three semiconductor plants in India, Minister of Electronics & Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw announced. He said the construction of these plants will start in the next 100 days.
“Today the Prime Minister has taken an important decision to set up a semicondutor fab in the country. The first commercial semiconductor fab will be set up by Tata and Powerchip-Taiwan whose plant will be in Dholera,” the minister said. Tata Electronics Private will set up a semiconductor fab in Dholera, Gujarat in partnership with Taiwan-based Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp.
Tata Semiconductor Assembly and Test Pvt Ltd will set up a Rs 27,000 crore semiconductor unit in Morigaon, Assam. Mumbai-based CG Power will set up a semiconductor unit in Sanand, Gujarat in a tie-up with Renesas Electronics Corp, Japan, and Stars Microelectronics, Thailand. These units will generate direct employment of 20,000 advanced technology jobs and about 60,000 indirect jobs.
Rs 1.26 lakh crore investments
Vaishnaw also said that the total investment in three semiconductor units is estimated to be Rs 1.26 trillion. Moreover, Tata Electronics’ plant will have a capacity of producing 50,000 wafers per month. One wafer has 5,000 chips so the total will be around 3 billion chips per annum. TSA’s pllant will produce 48 million chips per day and CG Power’s 15 million chips per day.
Out of the total, Rs 91,000 crore will be invested in Dholera, Rs 27,000 crore in Assam and Rs 7,600 crore in Sanand. These factories will be additional to the Rs 22,516 crore plant announced by US-based Micron in Sanand last year. In 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a semiconductor policy which attracted global attention.
India fast becoming semiconductor nation
At an event on Wednesday, Minister of State for Electronics & Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar said, “Today, investment proposals of more than Rs 2.50 trillion have been received by the Government of India from global semiconductor majors. India is fast becoming a semiconductor nation. Just two years ago, it was not even present in the semiconductor ecosystem of the world.”
“The approval of three semiconductor units by the Union Cabinet, with an estimated cost of Rs 1.26 trillion, signifies a watershed moment for India’s semiconductor industry. With construction set to commence within the next 100 days, this initiative underscores India’s commitment to fostering a robust semiconductor manufacturing ecosystem”.
“We are especially proud to note that Tata Electronics and Renesas Electronics, both esteemed members of the India Electronics and Semiconductor Association (IESA), are pivotal players in this endeavour. Their involvement not only demonstrates their dedication to India’s technological advancement but also highlights the pivotal role of IESA in driving industry growth and innovation,” said, Sanjay Gupta, chairperson and Ashok Chandak, president, IESA.
