India attracts $20 billion in investment bids for chip and display fabs

India has received $20.5 billion in investment proposals from five companies to produce semiconductor fabs and display fabs in the country.

The government had invited companies to apply for the Semicon India Programme in December, and released the offers of investment last week, saying it had elicited good response.

There were three companies that submitted applications for semiconductor fabs: Vedanta in a joint venture with Foxconn, IGSS ventures, and ISMC. The applications were for setting up 28nm to 65nm semiconductor fabs with a capacity of around 120,000 wafers per month.

The projected investment is $13.6 billion while the support sought from the government was around $5.6 billion.

The government also attracted investment for setting up display fabs in the country, to produce Gen 8.6 TFT LCD displays as well as AMOLED. Vedanta and Elest submitted applications with a projected investment of $6.7 billion and are looking for $2.7 billion in government support.

India Semiconductor Mission (ISM), an independent institution set up to spearhead the programme, will coordinate with the companies to help them access infrastructure in the country’s states. It will work with state governments to establish high tech clusters with 300-500 acres of land, 100 KvA power, 50 MLD water, and common facility centres for testing and certification.

The government added that the India semiconductor market was measured as $15 billion in 2020 and is estimated to reach $63 billion by 2026. This comes as part of prime minister Modi’s push to make India into a global technology and electronics production hub.

Other countries have been keen to secure their semiconductor supply chain following the ongoing shortage of these vital components. Earlier in February, the European Commission proposed the European Chips Act which would aim to mobilise €43 billion euros of public and private investments. The organisation is aiming to reduce its reliance on foreign supply chains by building its own domestic one.