A Vedanta-Foxconn joint venture’s plan to manufacture chips is set to receive green light from the government under the $10-billion India Semiconductor Mission, Economic Times reported citing government officials.
The move is expected to strengthen Centre’s plan to make India a semiconductor manufacturing hub.
The report quoted one of the officials saying, “Their plan is for fabrication of 40 nm (nanometer) chips- there are some conditions they need to fulfill. We are going to approve it.”
It added that the Vedanta-Foxconn will have to submit “binding technological transfer agreement” it has with either of the two companies.
The joint venture of both companies, Vedanta Foxconn Semiconductors Ltd (VFSL), has agreed on technological transfer pacts with two companies- US-headquartered GlobalFoundries and European chipmaker STMicroelectronics, according to the report.
Vedanta is the majority stakeholder in VFSL, with a 63% stake, while Foxconn has a 37% minority stake in the venture. Vedanta Chairman Anil Agarwal heads the joint venture company.
The venture reportedly has plans to invest Rs 66,000 crore to set up a manufacturing unit in Dholera, Gujarat. Both the companies had reached an agreement to with Gujarat government last year to invest up to Rs 1,54,000 lakh crore to set up manufacturing plant in the state.
The government has been trying to kickstart domestic manufacturing in the sector, under which the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) was launched in December 2021. It is government’s initiative to assist the emergence of semiconductor and display ecosystem through providing subsidy to selected chip manufacturers.
