iNDICA NEWS BUREAU–
In a fillip to the country’s goal to become a global semiconductor hub, India’s Union Cabinet on Thursday approved chip fabrication plants by Tata Group and Taiwan’s Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (PSMC) in Dholera district, Gujarat. Tata JV will make India’s first semiconductor fab with a capacity of 50,000 wafers per month, according to Union IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.
The Cabinet also approved Tata Semiconductor Assembly Test’s assembly and testing unit in Assam at an investment of around ₹27,000 crore.
Earlier this month, Union Minister of State for Electronics and IT, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, had announced that Assam will soon have its first-ever semiconductor packaging plant built jointly by the state government and Tata Group.
India has received over ₹2.5 lakh crore worth investment proposals in the semiconductor sector, ranging from packaging, design and research and development, according to Chandrasekhar. In September last year, US-based Micron Technology started the construction of a ₹22,500 crore facility in Sanand, Gujarat, that will set a benchmark for India’s semiconductor journey.
On Wednesday, Tata Group chairman N Chandrasekharan had said the company will soon announce its next big investment in the semiconductor and mobile battery manufacturing businesses. Chandrasekaran also said the group will announce an investment in mobile battery products as well. According to him, the group will be doing many things relating to mobile phones.
“The job is just the beginning,” Chandrasekaran added while talking about the kind of business opportunities that the Tata Group will be opting for. He said the group exited the mobile telephone business and other businesses whose contributions were marginal and focused on cash flows for all its businesses, simplified every business and worked to scale them up.
