vedanta Ties Up With Tech Partners For Chips Facility

“Vedanta Group remains fully committed to building India’s first semiconductor and display fabs in Dholera Special Investment Region in Ahmedabad district. Substantial progress has happened to tie up with technology and equity partners in semiconductors and we will make an announcement soon," he said.

“In display fab, we have a partnership with Innolux and are ready to proceed with full support of our partner," Hebbar added. Innolux is a Taiwan-based manufacturer of high-end LCD display and touch panels.

Innolux owns 14 TFT-LCD fabs and three touch sensor fabs in Taiwan. The company is yet to announce its partnership with Vedanta.

Hebbar did not specify the investments the group will make towards both the units, or clarify whether the investment figures will change following its split with esrtwhile joint venture (JV) partner Foxconn.

The top executive said that the company had engaged with more than 100 global suppliers and ancillary industries that will form a key part of the semiconductor and display ecosystem. He said the Gujarat government had allotted land in Dholera and work was already underway to prepare it for construction of the fabs.

A senior government official, however, said that central government approval and a letter of award were necessary for land allocation and beginning work in the designated area, noting that the letter had not been given to the company. The official added that the Vedanta-Foxconn JV had put in the application under the previous scheme, but the scheme had been modified in June this year, and the JV between the companies was also dissolved.

Hebbar said in his statement that a revised application under the modified scheme had been submitted by the company, and construction at the site will begin after the approvals come.

“We will await the Government of India’s nod to our applications under the modified scheme for semiconductor and display fabs. Thereafter, we will immediately begin construction and set out on the path to make India ‘atmanirbhar’ in electronics in line with the vision of our Honourable Prime Minister," he said.

Hebbar did not comment on the split with Taiwanese contract manufacturer Foxconn, which was a partner in the JV announced in February last year, or on Foxconn’s statement last week that it will go solo on its semiconductor project in India and will resubmit its application to the government.

Foxconn, largely known for making iPhones for Apple, said it was in discussions with Indian as well as global companies for bringing in new partners and that it was looking at options that would better fit its way of working. One of the reasons it had attributed to moving away from the JV was that the project was not moving fast enough.

Calling its decision to step away from the project a “course correction“, the company said it was done after heavy considerations on the near-term impact to its stakeholders, and on the long-term corporate health to the Foxconn Group and its shareholders.

Foxconn Technology Group and Vedanta Ltd had planned to invest $20 billion in India for setting up a semiconductor fabrication unit, a display unit and a semiconductor assembly and testing unit, under the $10 billion government-backed financial incentive scheme. The plant, which was planned to come up in Dholera in Gujarat, was touted as the first semiconductor plant to come up in India. The companies had forged the JV in February 2022. Foxconn added that it had not injected capital or fixed assets into the JV.

Government officials said that Vedanta Foxconn Semiconductor Ltd, the JV from which Foxconn has now withdrawn, had recently submitted a 40nm fab proposal backed by a tech licensing agreement from a global semicon major, which was being evaluated by the tech advisory group under the Indian Semiconductor Mission.