India has green-lit the construction of three semiconductor plants at a cost of $15.2 billion as New Delhi looks to power up its bid to become a global tech powerhouse.
India, which is seeking to rival countries such as Taiwan in chipmaking, expects its semiconductor market to be worth $63 billion by 2026, but doesn’t yet have a chipmaking facility.
Indian Electronics Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said construction will begin on the plants, by firms including Tata Group and CG Power, within the next 100 days, adding that they will manufacture and package chips for sectors including defence, automobiles and telecommunication.
“This is a big decision for the country and a key accomplishment towards making India a self-dependent country,” Vaishnaw told reporters.
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He did not give updates on other key chipmaking applicants, including Indian conglomerate Vedanta, Taiwan’s Foxconn and Israel’s Tower Semiconductor.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants to make India a chipmaker for the world as his government tries to overcome setbacks faced in its bid to offer $10 billion in incentives to the industry.
Tata will partner with Taiwan’s Powerchip to set up India’s first chipmaking plant worth 910 billion rupees in Gujarat state’s Dholera, Vaishnaw said, while CG Power will partner with Japan’s Renesas Electronics Corp and Thailand’s Stars Microelectronics for a 76 billion rupees chip packaging plant, also in Gujarat.
A third chip packaging plant worth 270 billion rupees will be set up in the eastern state of Assam by Tata unit Tata Semiconductor Assembly and Test Pvt Ltd, Vaishnaw added.
- Reuters with additional editing by Sean O’Meara
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