India gearing up to be a chip-making powerhouse

Tata Electronics plans to build both front-end semiconductor wafer fabrication and back-end packaging and test facilities in India, a big step toward the nation’s goal of establishing a competitive domestic semiconductor industry.

In collaboration with Taiwanese foundry Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (PSMC), Tata Electronics plans to start construction of India’s first 300mm semiconductor wafer fab in the next few months.

The venture, announced on February 29, matches PSMC’s diversification out of Taiwan with Tata’s strategy of pioneering new industries in India.

Tata Electronics belongs to India’s Tata Group industrial conglomerate, the nation’s largest. PSMC is Taiwan’s third-largest and the world’s eighth-largest semiconductor foundry.

The new front-end facility will be located in Gujarat and capable of producing power management semiconductors, microcontrollers, display driver integrated circuits and other logic devices for the automotive (including electric vehicles), computing and data storage, telecommunications, consumer electronics and defense industries.

Process nodes are expected to range from 28nm to 110nm, covering a wide range of mature applications.

According to Tata, the fab will have a production capacity of up to 50,000 wafers per month and will be equipped with state-of-the-art factory automation technology including data analytics and machine learning.

While geared to serve domestic and international customers, the fab should increase manufacturing synergies within the Tata Group.

On February 29, the Indian government also announced approval of Tata Electronics’ plan to build a semiconductor assembly, packaging and test facility in Assam, in the country’s northeast. The factory will