Vedanta's Semiconductor push: Company in talks with banks to raise up to USD 3 billion debt

Oil-to-metal conglomerate Vedanta is supposedly in talks with banks to raise debt of around USD 2.5-3 billion to enhance its semiconductor and display manufacturing plans, as it races to become the country’s first chipmaker, a Reuters report said quoting a senior company official on Saturday.  

In February, the company had decided to diversify into chip manufacturing and had also formed a joint venture with Taiwan`s Foxconn, with a total planned investment outlay of USD 20 billion. 

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At present, the report said, the company is seeking incentives from the central government and is also in talks with several other state governments for the same. Post getting subsidies, and once its definitive agreements are in place, the company plans to raise bank debt by as much as $3 billion. 

"We have financial banking relationships across India. We are talking to them," said Akarsh Hebbar, Vedanta`s Global Managing Director of Display and Semiconductor Business. 

The company is also seeking a chief executive for its joint venture with Foxconn, Hebbar said, adding that Foxconn employees will be deployed for its semiconductor plant, which is likely to start operations in 2025. 

Vedanta is seeking incentives such as 1,000 acres (405 hectares) of free land, and cheaper water and power from state governments as part of its foray into semiconductors and displays, Reuters exclusively reported on Thursday. 

The company is targeting mid-May for site selection from a state, and is in "advanced talks" with Gujarat and Maharashtra in west and Telangana in south India, Hebbar said on the sidelines of country`s first semiconductor conference, being held in the tech hub of Bengaluru. 

It has also approached states of Karnataka as well Odisha for its plants, and is awaiting government responses on possible incentives it can get, he added. 

The company is hopeful of a return on investment of 10-15% over 15-20 years and a "breakeven may happen somewhere in the middle," he added. 

On Friday, Modi and his IT ministers outlined plans for more investment incentives, telling the conference they wanted India to emerge as a key player in the global chips market, now dominated by manufacturers in Taiwan and a few other countries. 

Hebber said semiconductors were critical to establishing India as a electronics hub and will attract suppliers and device assemblers to setup base in India. "The same revolution that happened in China will end up happening here," he said. 

India`s semiconductor market is estimated to reach USD 63 billion by 2026, compared with USD 15 billion in 2020, the government says. 

(With Reuters inputs)