On Saturday, Tata Group Chairman N Chandrasekaran highlighted the significance of the semiconductor industry during the ‘bhoomi pujan’ ceremony for Tata’s new semiconductor unit in Morigaon, Assam. This facility, set to be established with an investment of Rs 27,000 crore, is a major step towards positioning India as a global leader in semiconductor manufacturing.
Chandrasekaran expressed his confidence that part of the facility would be completed by 2025 and that operations would commence soon after. He emphasized the critical role that semiconductors, or chips, will play in various industries including electronics, automobiles, mobile technology, defense, and healthcare. “Chips are going to be part of everything we do in our daily lives,” he said, pointing out that with the rise of artificial intelligence, the demand for advanced semiconductor technology will only accelerate.
State and Central Government Support
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma performed the ceremonial ‘bhoomi pujan’ alongside Chandrasekaran. The new unit is expected to create 15,000 direct jobs and an additional 11,000 to 13,000 indirect jobs.
Chief Minister Sarma praised the project as a landmark development for Assam and thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for supporting the initiative. He noted that the facility is expected to be operational within 18 months.
Chandrasekaran outlined Tata Group’s comprehensive strategy to build an entire electronics value chain in India. This includes a major manufacturing facility in Tamil Nadu near Bengaluru, an electronics assembly and packaging unit in Karnataka, an advanced semiconductor assembly and test facility in Assam, and a fabrication plant in Valera, Gujarat. Tata Group is also setting up a design house to support these efforts.
The facility in Assam is expected to attract numerous semiconductor ecosystem companies, creating a corridor of technological innovation and development. “We will need several people who will produce different components. As we grow, these companies will set up their units here,” said Chandrasekaran, predicting a thriving electronics hub in Assam.
Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced that the plant would be capable of manufacturing about 4.83 crore chips per day. He highlighted that the three major technologies to be deployed at the plant are developed in India. These chips will be used in electric vehicles and various communication and network infrastructure applications.
Government Initiatives and Training Programs
Officials noted that the Programme for Development of Semiconductors and Display Manufacturing Ecosystem in India, with a total outlay of Rs 76,000 crore, was initiated in December 2021. In June 2023, the Union Cabinet approved Micron’s proposal for a semiconductor unit in Sanand, Gujarat.
The Tata unit in Assam, approved on February 29 this year, will focus on advanced semiconductor packaging technologies such as flip chip and integrated system in package (I-SIP) technologies, which are essential for automotive, communication, and network infrastructure applications.
To support this growing industry, nearly 85,000 industry-ready professionals at BTech, MTech, and PhD levels are being trained in semiconductor chip design across 113 academic institutions in India, including nine in the northeast region.
Tata Electronics Pvt Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Sons, will spearhead the development of the semiconductor facility in Assam. This ambitious project represents a significant milestone in India’s journey towards becoming a global semiconductor powerhouse.
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