Vedanta Group Signs Pacts With 20 Korean Display Glass Companies To Support Its Proposed Display Fab Unit In India

Vedanta Group has signed memoranda of understanding (MoUs)

with 20 display glass companies from South Korea as it works to build an electronics manufacturing hub in India.

The MoUs were signed at the recently-concluded 'Korea Biz-Trade Show 2023' event organised by KOTRA, the state-funded trade and investment promotion organisation operated by the South Korean government, in collaboration with Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

"Vedanta is establishing India's first display fab in Gujarat," Akarsh K. Hebbar, Global Managing Director of Vedanta's Semiconductor and Display business, said addressed a gathering of business leaders from around 50 companies representing Korea's electronics industry.

"More than 50 companies have shown their interest in partnering with us, and we are pleased to announce that we have signed MoUs with 20 Korean companies engaged in the electronics manufacturing value chain," Hebbar said.

South Korea is a significant player in the global display industry. Samsung Display is one of the country's leading manufacturers of display panels, with LG Electronics as its major competitor.

In September 2022, Vedanta signed two MoUs with the Gujarat government to set up a semiconductor fab unit, a display fab unit and a semiconductor assembling and testing unit.

The group said the projects would be undertaken as a joint venture (JV) with Taiwanese electronic manufacturing behemoth Foxconn and envisages a total investment of $20 Billion. The JV plans to set up a semiconductor manufacturing plant and display fab unit in the next two years.

In February 2022, Vedanta formed a JV with Foxconn. Vedanta will hold 60% of the equity in the JV, while Foxconn will own 40%.

Innolux, a subsidiary of Foxconn established in 2003, is already the world's third-largest flat-panel maker after South Korea's Samsung and LG.T.

Innolux manufactures a wide range of LCD panels and touch panel screens used in TVs, desktop computers, laptops, and medical- and automotive-use panels. It employs more than 95,000 people worldwide and has major manufacturing facilities in the Taiwanese cities of Zhunan and Tainan. The company also operates module plants in mainland China.

It is unclear whether Innolux will partner with Vedanta to build a display fab in India.

Currently, the two major types of full-colour display technologies in mass production, LCDs and OLEDs, are fabricated on large glass substrates (also known as mother glass). While LCDs utilise liquid crystals that produce an image when light is passed through the display. OLED displays generate images by applying electricity to organic materials inside the display.

In 2017, Vedanta announced the acquisition of a controlling stake in glass substrate maker Avanstrate.

Another company, Bengaluru-based Elest, also announced plans to set up a display fab for manufacturing advanced AMOLED displays at an investment of ₹24,000 crores in Telangana.

Elest was set up by the promoters of Rajesh Exports, a Global Fortune 500 company, specifically to manufacture innovative technology products such as AMOLED displays, Lithium-ion cells, batteries, and EVs

In December 2021, the Union Cabinet approved the Semicon India Programme with an outlay of Rs 76,000 crore to ensure the country's development of a robust and sustainable Semiconductor and Display ecosystem.

The program will give semiconductor and display manufacturing impetus by facilitating capital support and technological collaborations.

Under the scheme for setting up Semiconductor Fabs and Display Fabs in India, the union government shall extend financial support of up to 50 per cent of project cost (subject to a ceiling of Rs 12,000 crore per display fab) on a pari-passu basis to applicants who are found eligible and have the technology as well as the capacity to execute such highly capital intensive and resource incentive projects.