Semiconductor Production: India Invests $15B In Semiconductor Plant

India has invested $15.2 billion (1.26 trillion Indian rupees) for the construction of three new semiconductor plants, marking a significant move in its endeavor to compete with leading chip-producing nations like China, Taiwan and other countries in the chip race.

On Thursday, the Indian cabinet approved the country’s first semiconductor fab facility set up by the salt-to-software conglomerate Tata Group and Taiwan’s Power Chip, slated to be located in Gujarat’s Dholera region. With a projected monthly wafer production capacity of 50,000 and an annual chip output target of 3 billion units, the facility aims to serve various markets such as high-performance computing, electric vehicles, telecommunications, and power electronics.

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The Indian IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw told reporters at a media briefing in New Delhi that the construction work for the semiconductor fab will start within 100 days.

“A typical semiconductor fab, construction is a three-four-year time frame. We will be compressing it significantly,” the minister said.

In addition to the semiconductor fab, the Indian government has also approved a $3.2 billion investment in a semiconductor assembly, testing, marking, and packaging unit, to be established in Assam by Tata Semiconductor Assembly and Test.

This will be the country’s third semiconductor unit and will be able to produce 48 million chips per day. The unit will cater to seven segments: automotive, electric vehicles, consumer electronics, telecom and mobile phones.