Billionaire Anil Agarwal struggles to get backers for $19 billion chip plant

Vedanta chairperson Anil Agarwal

Billionaire Anil Agarwal is struggling to find financial backers for a planned semiconductor factory in India with an investment of as much as 1.54 trillion rupees ($18.6 billion), according to people familiar with the matter.

Agarwal’s representatives met with large funds from the Middle East, Singapore, and the US over the past three months to garner financing commitments for the manufacturing business, the people said, asking not to be named as the information is not public. All the funds gave the opportunity a pass leaving them with almost no backers for the project, they said, without providing further details.

The tycoon had announced in September that his Volcan group had joined forces with Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., the assembler of most of the world’s iPhones, to build a chipmaking facility in the state of Gujarat. The partners, with little experience running large chip operations, were betting on rising semiconductor demand while announcing the plan.

Volcan Investments Ltd., the family trust of Agarwal, is not looking for any external investors to finance the semiconductor and display project, its spokesman said in an emailed statement. It didn’t respond to questions about whether the company had sought overseas funding.

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