Japanese semiconductor company Renesas Electronics anticipates completing its pilot Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT) facility—developed in collaboration with the Murugappa Group's CG Power and Thailand's Stars Microelectronics—by July 2025. The first chip from this pilot production line is expected to roll out by mid-2026.
Renesas, which has opened two new R&D centres in Noida and Bangalore, is also starting the design of the most advanced 3-nanometer chips for the company at the Noida centre.
“We see the first results of the partnership this year with the pilot unit…the expectation is that we should see some packages out next year, and that’s when there will be a ramp-up,” Malini Naraynamoorthi, Country Head of Renesas India, told Moneycontrol in an interview on May 13. “The main plant will be completed by December 2026, and full-scale production will start from October 2027.”
The OSAT unit is being set up with an investment of $222 million in Gujarat's Sanand. It is part of a joint venture between CG Power and Renesas, with the latter holding a minority stake and contributing its chip packaging technology. Stars Microelectronics (Thailand) Public Co. Ltd is also a minority shareholder in the venture.
When asked whether Renesas plans to bring its global and Indian clients to source chips from the new facility, Naraynamoorthi emphasised on the collaborative nature of the project. “It’s a joint venture. We have to succeed. So, we have to explore different ways to bring more packaging,” she said.
On India's semiconductor industry, she said, "India is at an inflection point in the semiconductor journey. The push from the government and different global companies coming together, along with the talent mindset shifting from augmentation focus to product focus, will contribute together and help the industry."
Renesas is also strengthening its presence in India by establishing new R&D facilities in Bangalore and Noida. The top Indian executive said Renesas will open two additional R&D centres in Bangalore and Hyderabad.
The company will hire 300 more engineers this year, taking the total employee base to 1000 in India.
“Two years ago, we were close to 100 people. Today, we’re about 700, and with the hope of getting to about 1000 by the end of the year, we will focus on R&D across the board,” she noted.
India is a key market for Renesas, offering significant growth potential and access to a highly skilled talent pool. She said Renesas is committed to deepening its partnerships with local companies, startups, and universities and aims to generate over 10 percent of its global revenue from the Indian market by 2030.
Indian R&D operations contribute to developing products for the local market and global applications.
Hidetoshi Shibata, CEO, Renesas, separately said the company's long-term ambition is to jointly build a robust electronic ecosystem in India from ideation to design and production to lifecycle management to meet the country's growing needs.
"We are committed to India to grow our presence and drive the semiconductor ecosystem. Noida and Bangalore are the backbone of our local and global R&D. India is exceptionally rich in hardware, software, and skilling. Our teams are expanding capabilities to build end-to-end solutions in India," he said.
From a geopolitical perspective, there are "natural and significant shared interests for India and Japan to work together," creating opportunities for collaboration, he said. "By combining our strengths, we will work together to reinvest in the semiconductor life cycle, accelerating the growth of India's electronics industry. This will empower us to succeed regardless of uncertainties due to geopolitical challenges," he added.
Renesas Electronics also signed a pact with the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY), to support local startups and academic institutions in the field of VLSI and embedded semiconductor systems.
Renesas and the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), an autonomous scientific society of Meity, today signed and exchanged two pacts under the Meity Chips to Startup (C2S) programme.
These pacts focus on supporting local startups by enabling them to drive technological advancement and promote local manufacturing in alignment with the Make in India initiative. They also enhance industry-academia collaboration by fostering an innovative, product-focused mindset among students.
The C2S programme encompasses collaboration with over 250 academic institutions and R&D organisations nationwide, including IITS, NITS, IIITS, government and private colleges, and approximately 15 startups, creating a strong ecosystem for Indigenous innovation.
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