ISMC To Invest $3 Billion In Karnataka To Set Up India's First Chip-Making Unit The investment is for a 65-nanometre analogue semiconductor fabrication plant in Mysuru
By Teena Jose
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International semiconductor consortium, ISMC, said it would invest $3 billion in Karnataka to set up India's first chip-making plant. ISMC is a joint venture between Abu Dhabi-based Next Orbit Ventures and Israel's Tower Semiconductor. The investment is for a 65-nanometre analogue semiconductor fabrication plant in Mysuru. This has given a lead for southern states in cornering the investments under the Union government's $10-billion incentive scheme for semiconductor.
ISMC has requested for 150 acres of land in Mysuru's Kochanahalli industrial area for the unit. The project is expected to generate about 1,500 direct jobs and the government claimed it would also create about 10,000 indirect job opportunities in the ancillary semiconductor ecosystem, as per reports. It also claimed to be the largest semiconductor fabrication unit under the Indian semiconductor mission project.
Additional chief secretary for IT and bio-technology E.V. Ramana Reddy and ISMC director Ajay Jalan signed a memorandum of understanding in the presence of Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai. The CM in a news report was quoted as saying, "This MoU is a significant agreement amid the competition among various states to attract microchip manufacturing plants. Karnataka understands that it is not just the fiscal incentives that matter but the availability of a favourable ecosystem and overall ease in operations are also important."
Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, during her recent visit to the US invited the US semiconductor industry to invest more in India, taking benefits of INR 76,000 crore production-linked incentive schemes for large chipmakers. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while speaking at the Semicon India 2022 conference on last Friday, invited the semiconductor industry to make India a "global hub for semiconductors.'
According the reports, India's semiconductor market is expected to grow to $63 billion by 2026 from $15 billion in 2020. In February, five companies had submitted the proposals for setting up the manufacturing units. Under the production-linked incentive scheme, the government will extend the financial support up to 50 per cent of project cost for at least two semiconductor units and two display units.
