Ahmedabad: Vedanta Limited and Foxconn (Taiwan’s company) will invest $19.5 billion (₹1.54 trillion) under a pact signed on Tuesday to set up a semiconductor project in Gujarat. They plan to build separate units for semiconductor and display production near the western state’s largest city, Ahmedabad.
Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendrabhai Patel said “the venture would create more than 100,000 jobs, and the state was prepared to extend any support to the project, which it won in a close race with India’s richest state, Maharashtra.”
Foxconn is acting as the technical partner, while oil-to-metals conglomerate Vedanta is financing the project as it looks to diversify into chip manufacturing. Foxconn said in a statement that the state’s infrastructure and the government’s active support “increase confidence in setting up a semiconductor factory”.
This multibillion dollar long-term investment will change the course of Indian electronics. We will create a pan-India ecosystem & are fully committed to investing in Maharashtra as well. Maharashtra will be our key to forward integration in our Gujarat JV. (4/4)
— Anil Agarwal (@AnilAgarwal_Ved) September 14, 2022
Vedanta is the third company to announce a chip plant location in India after international consortium ISMC and Singapore-based IGSS Ventures, which are setting up in the southern states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, respectively.
On the production of electronic material in India, Vedanta Chairman Anil Agrawal said, “The creation of ‘Made in India’ semiconductors will have a major impact on the prices of the goods. Their prices may be half or around that, as the cost of imports will come down,”
Further, Chairman added, “Today, a laptop costs Rs 1 lakh, and once the glass and semiconductor chip becomes available in India, it could cost Rs 40,000 or less. With the establishment of this plant, glass currently manufactured in Taiwan and Korea will soon be manufactured in India as well,”
Anil Aggarwal, on the investment in other products, said, “In the view of the capacity of the country, Vedanta will expand its centers in Maharashtra also, in which the company will target mobile products, laptops, and electronic vehicles.
(Vinayak)
