Tata’s Dholera Plant Likely To Roll Out India’s First Chip By 2026 End

The first semiconductor chip from the new plant being built by the Tata Group and Taiwan’s Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (PSMC) in Gujarat’s Dholera is expected to be out by the end of 2026.

Frank Huang, chairman of PSMC, told ET that Dholera will debut with 28 nm chips, which can be later moved down to 22 nm. 

Reportedly, the plant will produce chips for various applications, including power management IC, display drivers, microcontrollers (MCU) and high-performance computing logic, catering to the increasing demand in automotive, computing, data storage, wireless communication and artificial intelligence markets.

The construction of this mega semiconductor fabrication facility (fab) in Dholera will begin this year with a total investment of up to INR 91,000 Cr (~$11 Bn).

The project is set to generate over 20,000 skilled jobs in the region, Tata said in a statement.

The fab will have a manufacturing capacity of up to 50,000 wafers per month and incorporate next-generation factory automation. 

“Semiconductor industry presents a large and growing opportunity, and India is uniquely placed to capture this opportunity. On one end India has a large and growing domestic demand and on the other end global customers are looking at India for supply chain resilience. There could not have been better time for India to make its entry into semiconductor manufacturing industry. This partnership has the potential to redefine the contours of global semiconductor manufacturing and we are looking forward to collaboration with Tata Electronics,” Hong said in a statement. 

PSMC is known for its proficiency in logic and memory foundry segments. It has six semiconductor foundries in Taiwan.

Last month, the Union Cabinet approved the country’s first semiconductor fab to be set up by the Tata Group in partnership with PSMC. Besides, it also okayed two other semiconductor proposals. 

It is pertinent to note that the Indian government has taken a number of steps to develop the semiconductor ecosystem to make the country self-reliant. As part of this, it approved the Semicon India programme with an outlay of INR 76,000 Cr to develop the semiconductor and display manufacturing ecosystem. 

While Tata is currently at the forefront of semiconductor manufacturing in India, oil-to-telecom conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has also reportedly been exploring plans to venture into semiconductor manufacturing.