New Delhi: The government on Monday cleared a proposal of Kaynes Semicon to set up a Rs 3,307-crore semiconductor unit in Sanand, Gujarat, that will have the capacity to churn out 6.3 million chips a day.
Addressing reporters after the Union Cabinet meeting, IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw noted that a complete semiconductor ecosystem is coming up in India under the India Semiconductor Mission, and promised that the country will take a long-term view of this “foundational” sector and increase the outlay, as needed.
He likened the semiconductor industry to steel and chemicals industries which feed into many other allied sectors, and said the sector will be “crucial” for India’s growth and the industrial production blueprint of the country.
The minister said that the progress of Tata’s fab, a complex project, has been “very good”, and added that land has been allocated, and geo-technical investigations are done.
“Today, the Cabinet has approved Kaynes’ plant, with a capacity of 6.3 million chips per day. The plant will come up in 46 acres, it is a big plant and large portion of the production will go for Kaynes Industries, it has already been booked,” the minister said.
The plant will also cater to chips related to the power sector. The company has already acquired land in Sanand, Gujarat for the project, and construction will start soon.
The proposed investment for the unit is about Rs 3,307 crore.
Chips produced in this unit will cater to a wide variety of applications which include segments such as industrial, automobile, electric vehicles, consumer electronics, telecom, and mobile phones amongst others.
“Power-related chips..chips used in automobiles and home appliances, will also be produced in this plant,” Vaishnaw said briefing reporters.
Giving an update on Tata’s Dholera plant, the minister informed that land acquisition has already been done for the “massively large and complex project”.
It is pertinent to mention here that Tata Electronics will set up a semiconductor fab in partnership with Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (PSMC) of Taiwan. This fab will come up at Dholera in Gujarat, and entail an investment of Rs 91,000 crore.
