Powerchip inks deal to build plant in India

• By Lisa Wang /
  Staff reporter

Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電) yesterday said that it signed an agreement with Tata Electronics Pvt Ltd to help build India’s first 12-inch chip manufacturing facility with a total investment of US$11 billion.

As part of the agreement, Powerchip would provide Tata with access to mature technology nodes and help to train Indian workers, the Taiwanese company said in a statement.

The fab would be located in Dholera, Gujarat. It would have a capacity of 50,000 wafers per month and create 20,000 jobs in the region, Powerchip said.

Photo courtesy of Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp

Tata would receive access to a broad technology portfolio of leading-edge and mature nodes, including 28, 40, 55, 90 and 110-nanometer technologies, as well as collaboration in high-volume manufacturing.

The new fab is to manufacture chips for applications such as power management ICs, display driver ICs, microcontrollers and high-performance computing chips. These products are in high demand in the automotive, computing and data storage, wireless communications and artificial intelligence sectors, it said.

Powerchip told investors in July that any overseas technology partnerships would be based on the condition that they would generate new cash flow and have a positive impact on the company’s financial performance.

The news came after the US and India reached an agreement to work together on setting up a semiconductor fab in India, giving a boost to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s efforts to increase high-tech manufacturing in the country.

The proposed plant would make infrared, gallium nitride and silicon-carbide semiconductors, the White House said in a statement following a meeting between US President Joe Biden and Modi on Saturday last week.

Earlier this month, Indian Minister of Railways, Communications and Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw said that the South Asian country is attempting to develop the entire chip value chain as India aims to increase its electronics sector to US$500 billion by the end of the decade.

Additional reporting by Bloomberg

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