Centre seeks more information on chip expertise from Vedanta-Foxconn JV: Report

In order to be eligible for incentives under India's ambitious Rs 76,000 crore programme, companies are required to establish their expertise in semiconductor production

The Centre has sought more information from Vedanta and Foxconn Technology Group about their plan on manufacturing and fabrication of semiconductors, according to a report by The Economic Times.

The Ministry for Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY) has reportedly sought the additional information to ensure that Vedanta-Foxconn’s joint venture has “appropriate technical know-how” or the necessary expertise to build a whole semiconductor ecosystem.

"We are not very sure on how they (Vedanta-Foxconn) plan to achieve the scale that the government envisions. We want the companies to clarify on this," a senior government official told the publication.

DH independently could not verify the report.

In order to be eligible for incentives under India's ambitious Rs 76,000-crore programme aimed at building a whole semiconductor ecosystem, companies are required to establish their expertise in semiconductor production.

According to the report, companies must either own a fabrication unit for semiconductor chips in the 65-28 nanometer range or have "production-grade licenced technologies" to produce 28 nanometer chips in order to obtain government's approval to set up semiconductor fabrication in India. The companies must also give visibility into advanced node technology through licencing or development.

In February, the government said that it had received investment offers for semiconductor and display fabrication plants totalling Rs 1.53 lakh crore from numerous businesses.

The mining company Vedanta and Hon Hai Technology Group ( "Foxconn") signed a joint venture (JV) agreement in the same month to start producing semiconductors in India. According to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that the two businesses signed, Vedanta would own the majority of the equity investment in the venture while Foxconn would hold a minority stake.