Boost to ‘Make in India’: Two new semiconductor facilities get cabinet nod

New Delhi, May 5 (IANS) The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Tuesday approved two new semiconductor projects under the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM), marking another step in India’s push to strengthen its domestic chip manufacturing ecosystem.

The projects, which will be set up in Gujarat with a combined investment of around Rs 3,936 crore, are expected to generate employment for approximately 2,230 skilled professionals.

The approvals include the country’s first commercial Mini/Micro-LED display facility based on Gallium Nitride (GaN) technology, along with a semiconductor packaging unit.

One of the key projects will be developed by Crystal Matrix Limited in Dholera, Gujarat. The facility will focus on compound semiconductor fabrication and assembly, testing, marking and packaging (ATMP), with a special emphasis on manufacturing Mini/Micro-LED display modules. It will also offer GaN foundry services, including epitaxy on six-inch wafers.

The plant is expected to produce 72,000 square metres of display panels annually, along with 24,000 sets of RGB wafers. These products are likely to find applications across a wide range of devices, including televisions, commercial displays, smartphones, automotive displays, and emerging technologies such as extended reality (XR) devices and smartwatches.

The second project has been approved for Suchi Semicon Private Limited, which will set up an Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT) facility in Surat. This unit will manufacture discrete semiconductors with a proposed production capacity of over 1,033 million chips per year. The chips are expected to cater to sectors such as power electronics, analog integrated circuits, and industrial systems, serving key industries including automotive, industrial automation, and consumer electronics.

With these two additions, the total number of approved projects under the India Semiconductor Mission has risen to 12, with cumulative investments reaching approximately Rs 1.64 lakh crore. The government believes these projects will significantly enhance India’s semiconductor capabilities and complement the country’s growing strength in chip design.

The government highlighted that India’s semiconductor momentum is also being driven by strong design infrastructure support extended to 315 academic institutions and 104 startups. Several previously approved projects are already at different stages of implementation, with two units having commenced commercial shipments and two more expected to begin operations in the near future.

–IANS

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