India’s first semiconductor chip unit to start production this year

India’s first semiconductor chip fabrication plant, set up by Tata Electronics and Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (PSME) in Dholera, Gujarat, will start commercial production by September or October this year, union minister for electronics and information technology, Ashwini Vaishnaw, said on Monday.

Stating this at a press conference in Bengaluru, the minister said commercial scale production of semiconductor chip was made possible with government handholding of private sector.

He said the capital support scheme for semiconductor production in the country is part of the larger Semicon India programme. With total funding of Rs76,000 crore, the programme aims to create a self-sustaining semiconductor and display manufacturing ecosystem in the country.

Detailing government’s plans to advance research and development in semiconductor fabrication, Vaishnaw said the government has extended funding of Rs334 crore to Indian Institute of Science (IISc), in Bengaluru, for new research in gallium nitride chip a technology, which finds use in telecom and power.

He said the government is also working on manpower building by equipping universities and institutions with latest semiconductor design tools. So far, he said 234 universitoes have been provided with such tools. 

He said the government will also be launching a production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for component manufacturing soon.

Commercial production of semiconductor chips, which has applications in various industries, will significantly reduce India's import dependence, while alo helping to bolster innovation, he said. 

Vaishnaw also launched the India AI Mission portal, which is expected to go live within the next 7-8 days.