PSMC keen to invest more in India's chip dream, Chandrasekaran says Tata's engineers heading to Taiwan for training

Prime Minister Modi met officials of Tata Sons and PSMC, who briefed him about the project.

Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran has said that he is hopeful of the planned wafer fab ecosystem in Gujarat's Dholera region potentially generating up to 2-1/2 lakh jobs in the next two to three years.

Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Chandra confirmed that the first set of engineers from Tata Group are soon heading to Taiwan for training. Taiwan-based Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (PSMC) is providing the technological support for the wafer fab, in partnership with the Tatas.

Chandrasekaran said the Tata Group has recruited people with specialised talent, and who have worked internationally, for the fab, all with over 25-30 years of experience.

"We are building the whole ecosystem around semiconductor manufacturing. Earlier, we had close to 50,000 people working in our manufacturing, and this number will grow 4-5 times in 2-3 years," Chandrasekaran said. He is hopeful that the facility should be 'up and running' in the next 2-1/2 years.

Frank Hong, Chairman, PSMC said he was pleased to see India's high interest in the project, and lauded that the work on the fab unit has started in just two years. PSMC Chairman said he sees things moving in India has wants to be 'part of this action'.

"There is a big prospect for India today, like I saw in China 20 years ago. I am very glad we have one foot in India, and there will be more opportunity," PSMC Chairman Frank Hong said. He also mentioned that India's engineers are 'more valuable' compared to other countries.

In PSMC's Indian journey, Hong said choosing the right partner was the most important thing. Hong also hoped that one day India will be part of the World Semiconductor Association - an exclusive body of six nations that have chip manufacturing capabilities. "India will be the seventh member, this will be my effort," he added.

The semiconductor fabrication facility is being housed under Tata Electronics, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Sons. Chandra said the for the company, this foundry is the 'icing on the cake' and an important step in India's semiconductor journey. The fabrication facility also promises to attract a large number of smaller companies that will feed into the ecosystem.

Chandrasekaran said it is fundamental that India builds this capability, as it will allow us to design our own products and services, and attempt a lot of innovation. "Semiconductor is going to be fundamental for the future as everything will be tech and data driven, whether it is power, consumer, IoT, drones, aerospace."

The chip manufacturing unit in Dholera is being set up at an investment of up to Rs 91,000 crore ($11 billion), with a manufacturing capacity of up to 50,000 wafers per month.

Late on Thursday, Prime Minister Modi met officials of Tata Sons and PSMC, who briefed him about the project. "Had a great meeting with the leadership team of Tata Sons and PSMC. They shared updates on their Semiconductor manufacturing projects. PSMC expressed enthusiasm to further expand its footprint in India," PM Modi said on X.