Amid India's eagerness to develop a local semiconductor ecosystem, many Indians, resident or non-resident, are looking to join the bandwagon, building ATMP (assembly, testing, marketing, and packaging) plants or making compound semiconductors.
Business Standard reported that Indian entrepreneurs are planning to enter or have already entered the semiconductor manufacturing business, and they may apply for subsidies while India's national and state governments are engaging in a bidding war by offering subsidies to attract investments.
Tarq Semiconductors, part of the Hiranandani Group, just entered the field of setting up an ATMP plant in India. Darshan Hiranandani, chairman of Tarq Semiconductors, told Business Standard that they intend to invest in the entire power compound supply chain. Despite being located in Maharashtra, sources told Business Standard that the company may set up its facility in Greater Noida for its ATMP unit.
Harshad Mehta, president of US-based Silicon Power Corporation, plans to apply for incentives for compound semiconductors under India Semiconductor Mission, making substrate for silicon carbide in Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, or Odisha, reports Business Standard. According to Silicon Power's website, the company designs, manufactures, and tests power semiconductor devices and assemblies, offering products such as diodes, thyristors, phase control & line commutation devices, and pulse power application devices.
Meanwhile, Sahasra Electronics, a Delhi-based EMS provider and PCB manufacturer, has set up an ATMP plant in Bhiwadi, Rajasthan, which has entered initial production. The INR7.5 billion (US$90 million) investment was announced in July 2022, with INR1.5 billion being spent in fiscal 2023 (April 2022 to March 2023), and another INR6 billion will be invested once its revenue reaches INR2.5–3 billion.
In September 2022, India revised its semiconductor and display fabs incentive scheme, providing 50% rather than 30% of the project cost for investments in ATMP and compound semiconductors. Most experts believe that it is more plausible for India to start developing a local semiconductor ecosystem from ATMP instead of the foundry business that requires much more capital and technology know-how.
In addition to Sahasra, Micron announced it would set up an ATMP manufacturing facility in Gujarat, and ADATA approved a capital injection plan to make memory modules in India. India's IT giant HCL is reportedly eyeing applying for incentives for an ATMP unit in India.
Source: Department of Commerce of India, July 2023
