After scrapping the venture with Vedanta, Foxconn Technology Group is understood to be in talks with STMicroelectronics NV to submit a joint bid for building a semiconductor factory in India.
A Bloomberg report on Thursday stated that the Taiwan electronics maker and Franco-Italian STM have applied for State support for a 40-nanometer chip plant.Â
Foxconn, which is largely known for carrying assembly for Apple products, already has a significant presence in India – with facilities in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu to manufacture iPhones and other Apple accessories.Â
Foxconn-Vedanta fallout
While it has never set up a semiconductor fabrication unit, Foxconn has expressed strong interest in setting up the semiconductor facilities in India. It had signed a pact last year with the Indian mining major, Vedanta, for a $19.5-billion chip facility. Foxconn pulled out of the JV in July, stating that it is going to go forward on its own to set up chip factories in India.Â
On Wednesday, Foxconn’s chairman and chief executive officer Young Liu has said that India is poised to emerge as the new manufacturing centre in the world, with the supplier ecosystem likely to develop faster than in China.
The Ministry of Technology and IT, Foxconn and STMicro are yet to officially comment on the development.
Wooing chipmakers
India is trying to boost chip output to reduce reliance on expensive imports and dependence on Taiwan and China. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has pledged $10 billion to woo chipmakers, promising his administration will bear half the cost of setting up semiconductor sites. That effort has prompted US memory chip firm Micron Technology Inc. to announce a $2.75-billion assembly and testing facility in Modi’s home State of Gujarat.
Besides Foxconn, Vedanta has continued to express interests in setting up semiconductor fabrication units in India. At the semicon event in Gujarat, Vedanta Chairman Anil Agarwal said that the Indian firm will start making chips in the next two-and-a-half years. He reaffirmed that the process to set up a chip manufacturing unit was on track, with a technology partner on board. For now, it is unclear if Vedanta has already submitted its proposal to MeitY. Real estate giant Hiranandani are also looking to set up a semicon fab in India.Â
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Published on September 7, 2023
