Union Cabinet approves three more semiconductor units, northeast to get its first facility in Assam

NEW DELHI: In a significant decision, the Union Cabinet on Thursday approved the establishment of three semiconductor units, under 'Development of Semiconductors and Display Manufacturing Ecosystems in India'.

Briefing reporters after a meeting of union cabinet, Union Minister for Communications, Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw said all three units will start construction within the next 100 days.

"Today the Prime Minister has taken an important decision to set up fab">semiconductor fab in the country. The first commercial fab">semiconductor fab will be setup by Tata and Powerchip-Taiwan, whose plant will be in Dholera," he said.

The union minister said that cumulative investment in all three units will be Rs 1.26 lakh crore."All three units will start construction within the next 100 days. 50,000 wafer per month will be manufactured. 300 crore chips will be manufactured annually through this facility. Northeast will get its first semiconductor Unit in Assam. 48 million chips per day will be manufactured from here. The breakdown is investment in FAB will be 91,000 crore. Investment in the Assam unit will be 27,000 crore. Investment in the Sanand unit will be Rs 7,600 crore," he said. Vaishnaw said these units will generate direct employment of 20,000 advanced technology jobs and about 60,000 indirect jobs.

"These units will accelerate employment creation in downstream automotive, electronics manufacturing, telecom manufacturing, industrial manufacturing, and other semiconductor consuming industries," he said. He said within a very short time, India Semiconductor Mission has achieved four big successes. "With these units, the semiconductor ecosystem will get established in India.

India already has deep capabilities in chip design. With these units, our country will develop capabilities in chip fabrication. Advanced packaging technologies will be indigenously developed in India with today's announcement," the minister said. The Programme for Development of Semiconductors and Display Manufacturing Ecosystem in India was notified in December 2021 with a total outlay of Rs 76,000 crore. In June, 2023, the Union Cabinet had approved the proposal of Micron for setting up a semiconductor unit in Sanand, Gujarat. An official release said that construction of this unit is progressing at a rapid pace and a robust semiconductor ecosystem is emerging near the unit. The approved three semiconductor units are: Semiconductor Fab with 50,000 wfsm capacity, semiconductor ATMP unit in Assam and Semiconductor ATMP unit for specialized chips.

The release said Tata Electronics Private Limited ("TEPL") will set up a fab">semiconductor fab in partnership with Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (PSMC), Taiwan. "This fab will be constructed in Dholera, Gujarat. Investment in this fab will be Rs 91,000 crore. PSMC is renowned for its expertise in logic and memory foundry segments. PSMC has 6 semiconductor foundries in Taiwan.

The capacity is 50,000 wafer starts per month (WSPM)," the release said. Segments covered include high performance compute chips with 28 nm technology, power management chips for electric vehicles (EV), telecom, defence, automotive, consumer electronics, display, power electronics, etc. Power management chips are high voltage, high current applications.

Referring to semiconductor ATMP unit in Assam, the release said Tata Semiconductor Assembly and Test Pvt Ltd ("TSAT") will set up a semiconductor unit in Morigaon, Assam. This unit will be set up with an investment of Rs 27,000 crore. "TSAT semiconductor is developing indigenous advanced semiconductor packaging technologies including flip chip and ISIP (integrated system in package) technologies.

Capacity is 48 million per day. Segments covered include automotive, electric vehicles, consumer electronics, telecom, mobile phones," the release said. On semiconductor ATMP unit for specialized chips, the release said CG Power, in partnership with Renesas Electronics Corporation, Japan and Stars Microelectronics, Thailand will set up a semiconductor unit in Sanand, Gujarat.

This unit will be set up with an investment of Rs 7,600 crore. "Renesas is a leading semiconductor company focussed on specialised chips. It operates 12 semiconductor facilities and is an important player in microcontrollers, analog, power, and System on Chip ('SoC)' products," the release said. The CG power semiconductor unit will manufacture chips for consumer, industrial, automotive and power applications and will have a capacity of 15 million per day, it said. The meeting of union cabinet was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.