Three more semiconductor fabs worth $8-12 billion expected in India: Vaishnaw

India could see at least three more semiconductor fabrication units coming up in the next few months with cumulative investments to the tune of $8-12 billion, Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Tuesday.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the launch of American chip-maker AMD’s global design centre in Bengaluru, Vaishnaw said that talks are ongoing with the governments of Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Karnataka, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh, and locations should be finalised in a few months. “We could also see in the next few months two very good proposals on fabrication and outsourced semiconductor assembly and test sectors,” he added.

This comes at a time when India is trying to attract major semiconductor players to set up chip fabrication and assembling plants in the country with its $10 billion (Rs 76,000 crore) semiconductor programme.

Global semiconductor companies are eyeing setting up shop in India, driven by the need to diversify supply chains out of China and the massive demand for the country’s tech talent.

Highlighting Micron’s semiconductor plant plan which was announced in June and began construction in September, Vaishnaw said, “The success of the first unit (Micron) in India has given huge confidence to the world.” AMD setting up its largest design centre is a “testament to the confidence global companies have in India”, he added.

Talking about the progress on the Semiconductor Lab (SCL) in Mohali, the minister said, “We are getting very good traction on the EoI (expression of interest) and in the next 5-6 months, we must be able to finalise things.” The lab will be both a research and semi-commercial facility, he added.

Talking about the telecom sector, Vaishnaw said that India has already received over 200 patents in 6G technology, which is expected to roll out worldwide in 2029.

“India is already the second-largest ecosystem of 5G in the world,” he said, adding that the country has installed over 4,00,000 towers in over a year as part of the 5G rollout, constituting about 80% indigenous equipment.

Mobile phone manufacturing, which was a minuscule industry 10 years ago, has surpassed $44 billion and its export value stands at $11 billion, the minister informed. From importing 98% of mobile phones 10 years ago, today India manufactures 99.2% mobile phones used here, he said.