It sounds like India will become the next consumer of semiconductor capital equipment unless they screw up and do too much business with sanctioned Russia.
From digitimes.com
India state governments wooing semiconductor investments
Jingyue Hsiao, DIGITIMES, Taipei
Thursday 7 April 2022
With the geopolitical tensions between US and China, the Russian-Ukraine war, and the global chip shortage in recent years, countries, including India, have been wooing chip makers to invest. The same competition to attract chip foundry has also occurred between states in India.
After revealing the INR760 billion (US$10 billion) plan for developing the semiconductor and display manufacturing ecosystem, India announced three groups of companies committed to investing in chip-making in India, including Vedanta and Foxconn, IGSS Ventures and ISMC, and Tower Semiconductor and Next Orbit Ventures, with fab processes ranging between 28 and 65 nanometers.
The investment plans have aroused competition between India's state governments to attract investments. According to India's Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, several state governments such as Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Odisha, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu are in talks with the companies to set up semiconductor manufacturing plants or fab complexes.
Business Today cited Neeraj Bansal, partner of KPMG India, as saying that establishing semiconductor manufacturing facilities with proximity to automobile, mobile phone, and industrial hubs such as Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Uttar Pradesh would be a win-win for the chip makers and end-users of semiconductor components.
Mint citing unnamed sources reported that Tata Group is talking with Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Telangana to set up its IC assembly and packing facility. Deccan Herald reported that Tamil Nadu is attracting Tata Group, Foxconn, and Samsung Electronics to set up a fab.
The Economic Times reported that Vedanta Group has set up nearly ten teams to find a suitable location for a foundry across five states, including Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Himachal Pradesh.
Fortune quoted Vedanta as saying that the foundry alone will require an investment of US$7-8 billion. The central government of India will cover up to 50% of the investment, while the state government will fund another 15-20%.
In addition to auxiliary industries, semiconductor manufacturing requires an enormous amount of pure water, a stable power supply, various chemicals, and accessibility to infrastructures such as ports and airports. K Krishna Moorthy, CEO and president of India Electronics & Semiconductor Association, said that 60% of chemicals, gases, metals, and minerals are unavailable in India, according to The Economic Times.
Still, The Economic Times reported that Tamil Nadu and Karnataka are strong contenders in terms of infrastructure. Karnataka also has a thriving designer ecosystem. Himachal Pradesh is rich with water resources. Besides, human resources are abundant in Noida, Uttar Pradesh. Gujarat and Maharashtra in western India have a long history of industrialization. |
