Vedanta-Foxconn to set up first semiconductor manufacturing facility in Dholera, Gujarat

Indian conglomerate Vedanta and Taiwanese electronics manufacturing giant Foxconn have announced that they will set up their semiconductor and display manufacturing facility in Dholera Special Investment Region (SIR) near Ahmedabad in Gujarat. This will be the first semiconductor manufacturing facility in India. The project is currently in the advanced stages of evaluation by the government of India, reported PTI.

In September 2022, Vedanta-Foxconn joint venture signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Gujarat government to invest ₹1,54,000 crore and set up the manufacturing plant. Gujarat chief minister Bhupendra Patel said that the facility will create one lakh job opportunities. The upcoming facility in Dholera is expected to get subsidies and incentives under the Gujarat Semiconductor Policy 2022-27, like subsidised water and electric supply and zero stamp duty on land purchases.

Before the joint venture zeroed in on Gujarat as its preferred site for building the semiconductor facility, it was preceded by an intense tussle with Maharashtra as the choice of location for the plant. Reportedly, the venture was in advanced talks with the Maharashtra government and the company executives had even finalised 1,000 acres of land in Talegaon town near Pune. But at the end, Gujarat pipped Maharashtra in winning the deal. Apart from Maharashtra and Gujarat, states like Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana were also in the race.

Most of the world’s chip output is limited to countries like the USA and Taiwan. In view of the spurt in the demand for electronics products, in 2021, the Indian government green-lighted the ₹76,000 crore production-linked incentive scheme for semiconductor goods manufacturing in India. As per a report by the Indian Electronics and Semiconductor Association, the government led initiatives to promote semiconductor manufacturing will rise the share of locally sourced components by 17% till 2026.