Foxconn, Vedanta Submit Separate Applications To Govt For Setting Up Chip Fabrication Units In India: Report

Vedanta Group and Taiwanese electronics contract manufacturer Foxconn have reportedly submitted separate applications to the government to establish semiconductor fabrication units in India.

Both companies have provided details of their proposed technology partners and funding for the chip fabrication units.

The government is currently going through their proposals and is in "dialogue" with them to tie up loose ends, Economic Times reported citing an official.

Foxconn has partnered with European company STMicroelectronics NV for a bid to build a semiconductor factory in India, Bloomberg reported on Thursday (7 September).

The collaboration aims to establish a 40nm chip plant.

Earlier last year, the Vedanta Group and Foxconn had formed a joint venture called Vedanta Foxconn Semiconductors Ltd to establish a chip fabrication unit in Gujarat.

However, Foxconn later withdrew from the joint venture while expressing its commitment to setting up a chip fabrication unit in India.

After Foxconn's withdrawal from the JV, Vedanta has also announced that it will submit proposal for setting up chip fabrication unit.

India, like countries including the US, is trying to boost chip output to reduce reliance on expensive imports and dependence on Taiwan and China.

The Modi government has rolled out a nearly $10 billion production linked incentive (PLI) scheme to woo chipmakers, promising his administration will bear half the cost of setting up semiconductor sites.

According to the Bloomberg report, any chip project, including Foxconn’s, will have to make detailed disclosures including whether it has firm, binding agreements with a technology partner for production, as well as financing plans comprising equity and debt arrangements.

The applicants also need to disclose the type of semiconductors they’ll make and their target customers.