The Dholera (Gujarat) semiconductor fab will produce 50,000 wafers monthly. In contrast, the Morigaon (Assam) and Sanand (Gujarat) units will assemble, test, monitor, and pack 48 million and 15 million chips daily.
In a significant step towards a domestic semiconductor ecosystem, the government has sanctioned the establishment of three semiconductor plants, with two located in Gujarat and one in Assam. These facilities represent a collective investment of Rs 1.26 lakh crore. The chips produced at these plants will cater to a variety of uses, including automobiles, mobile phones, and consumer electronics. They will serve both the domestic market and export demands.
The construction of these plants, comprising one semiconductor fabrication unit and two assembly, testing, monitoring, and packing (ATMP) units, is scheduled to commence within 100 days. The first of its kind in India, a semiconductor plant by US-based Micron Technology is under construction in Sanand, Gujarat, with an investment of USD 2.75 billion. The facility is anticipated to deliver its inaugural chip by December 2024.
Minister of Electronics & Information Technology, Ashwini Vaishnaw, stated in a cabinet briefing that construction for Micron’s plant began within 90 days post-approval, and a similar timeline is expected for the three new plants.
Tata Electronics Pvt Ltd, in collaboration with Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (PSMC) of Taiwan, is setting up a semiconductor fabrication unit in Dholera, Gujarat. With an investment of Rs 91,000 crore, this facility will produce high-performance computer chips using 28 nm technology and power management chips for applications like electric vehicles, telecom, and consumer electronics. The plant will have the capacity to produce 50,000 wafers per month, with each wafer containing approximately 5,000 chips.
CG Power, in partnership with Renesas Electronics Corporation of Japan and Stars Microelectronics of Thailand, will establish a semiconductor ATMP plant in Sanand, Gujarat, for specialized chips. The investment for this facility is pegged at Rs 7,600 crore, and it will have a daily production capacity of 15 million chips for consumer, industrial, automotive, and power applications. Another semiconductor ATMP unit will be set up by Tata Semiconductor Assembly and Test Pvt Ltd in Morigaon, Assam, with an investment of Rs 27,000 crore. This plant will produce 48 million chips daily for use in electric vehicles, consumer electronics, telecom, and automotive applications.
These semiconductor plants are part of the government’s initiative to develop semiconductor and display manufacturing ecosystems, which was announced in 2021 with a total allocation of Rs 76,000 crore. The government has committed an incentive of approximately Rs 59,000 crore for the four plants, including Micron’s facility.
When queried about the construction timeline, Minister Vaishnaw stated that a typical semiconductor fabrication plant takes 3-4 years to build, but efforts will be made to significantly reduce this duration, as demonstrated by the Micron project, which was expedited to less than 36 months.
The semiconductor value chain comprises design, fabrication, and ATMP. India already possesses chip design capabilities and has developed ATMP technology. This new venture aims to ensure the country also acquires fabrication technology. Minister Vaishnaw emphasized that semiconductors will be manufactured on a large scale in India, and these domestically produced chips will be utilized in leading automotive markets worldwide.
