India Semiconductor Mission Empowered With Three New Units That Will Generate 80,000 Jobs

Prime minister Narendra Modi and the Union Cabinet chaired by him approved the establishment of three semiconductor units under ‘Development of Semiconductors and Display Manufacturing Ecosystems in India.  All three units will start construction within next 100 days. The Program for Development of Semiconductors and Display Manufacturing Ecosystem in India was notified on 21 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.

Lt. Gen. Dr. SP Kochhar, Director General of COAI, commended the Indian Government for announcing this move, stating: "The Union Cabinet’s approval on the establishment of three semiconductor units under the India Semiconductor Mission is a positive and commendable development. This is a progressive step for India and the strongly emerging manufacturing ecosystem in the country. We believe this serves as an excellent example for our nation towards attaining self-sufficiency in line with our Hon’ble Prime Minister’s vision of ‘Atmanirbharta’ and will further inspire India’s goals to become a global manufacturing and supply chain hub. Moreover, with the output from these facilities being poised to benefit various sectors and segments, it is expected to provide a fillip to the ‘Digital India’ mission through increased technological prowess and advancement of the indigenous industrial ecosystem, besides generating employment and attracting more investments in the country.

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:

1. Semiconductor Fab with 50,000 wfsm capacity:

Tata Electronics Private Limited (“TEPL”) will set up a semiconductor fab in partnership with Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (PSMC), Taiwan.

Investment: This fab will be constructed in Dholera, Gujarat. Investment in this fab will be Rs.91,000 crore.

Technology partner: PSMC is renowned for its expertise in logic and memory foundry segments. PSMC has 6 semiconductor foundries in Taiwan.

Capacity: 50,000 wafer starts per month (WSPM)  

Segments covered:

• 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.

2. Semiconductor ATMP unit in Assam:

Tata Semiconductor Assembly and Test Pvt Ltd (“TSAT”) will set up a semiconductor unit in Morigaon, Assam.

Investment: This unit will be set up with an investment of Rs.27,000 crore.

Technology: TSAT semiconductor is developing indigenous advanced semiconductor packaging technologies including flip chip and ISIP (integrated system in package) technologies.

Capacity: 48 million per day

Segments covered: Automotive, electric vehicles, consumer electronics, telecom, mobile phones, etc.

3.   Semiconductor ATMP unit for specialized chips:

CG Power, in partnership with Renesas Electronics Corporation, Japan and Stars Microelectronics, Thailand will set up a semiconductor unit in Sanand, Gujarat.

Investment: This unit will be set up with an investment of Rs.7,600 crore.

Technology partner: 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.

Segments covered: The CG power semiconductor unit will manufacture chips for consumer, industrial, automotive and power applications.

Capacity: 15 million per day

Strategic importance of these units:

• 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.

Employment potential:

• These units will generate direct employment of 20 thousand advanced technology jobs and about 60 thousand indirect jobs.
• These units will accelerate employment creation in downstream automotive, electronics manufacturing, telecom manufacturing, industrial manufacturing, and other semiconductor consuming industries.