'Chips for Viksit Bharat': PM Modi to dedicate to nation semiconductor facilities worth Rs 1.25 lakh crore today

PM Modi India Techade address, semiconductor plants: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to participate in a video conference, titled ‘India’s Techade: Chips for Viksit Bharat’, at 10:30 am on Wednesday, March 13, and to lay the foundation stone of three semiconductor facilities worth an estimated Rs 1.25 lakh crore. The move is part of the Centre's 'India Semiconductor Mission' aimed at creating an end-to-end semiconductor ecosystem to enable the country to lead the global semiconductor industry.

The initiative is expected to foster employment opportunities for the youth of the country, according to an official statement. 

The event will see the virtual participation of students from 1,814 higher education institutes, including all central universities, IITs, NITs, IIMs, IISER and IISc. Apart from live streaming of the event, the higher education institutes will also be conducting seminars and conferences during the day to encourage deliberations on the subject and brainstorm a roadmap to achieve 'Viksit Bharat @2047' through research and innovation.

The three semiconductor facilities, one each located in Gujarat's Dholera and Sanand, and one in Assam's Morigaon, received approval from the Union Cabinet last month.  All three will “accelerate employment creation in downstream automotive, electronics manufacturing, telecom manufacturing, industrial manufacturing, and other semiconductor consuming industries”, according to an earlier statement.

Here are some of the key highlights about the three semiconductor facilities, slated to be dedicated to the nation by the PM on March 13: 

• The Dholera facility will be established by Tata Electronics Pvt Ltd (TEPL) in partnership with Taiwan’s Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (PSMC)
• The plant will cater to high-performance computing chips with 28 nm technology as well as power management chips, used in high voltage-high current applications, for areas such as electric vehicles, telecom, defence, automotive, consumer electronics, display, and power electronics 
• The Sanand plant will be set up by CG Power in partnership with Japan’s Renesas Electronics Corporation and Thailand’s Stars Microelectronics
• The unit will be dedicated to assembly, testing, marking, and packaging (ATMP) for specialised chips
• The Sanand unit will have a capacity of 15 million per day 
• The Morigaon unit will be set up by Tata Semiconductor Assembly and Test Pvt Ltd (TSAT)
• It will cater to segments such as automobiles, electric vehicles, consumer electronics, telecom and mobile phones 
• The Morigaon facility will have a capacity of 48 million per day