FILE PHOTO: Semiconductor chips are seen on a printed circuit board in this illustration picture taken February 17, 2023. REUTERS/Florence Lo/Illustration/File Photo
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India on Thursday approved setting up three chipmaking units worth 1.26 trillion rupees ($15.2 billion) from firms including India's Tata Group and Japan's Renesas, taking the country a step closer to its goal of becoming an electronics powerhouse.
The units will begin construction within the next 100 days, electronics minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said, adding that they will make chips for sectors including defence, automobiles and telecommunication.
The move reinforces Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ambition to make India a chipmaker for the world as his government tries to get past initial setbacks faced in its bid to offer $10 billion in incentives to the industry.
Tata will partner with Taiwan's Powerchip for its 910 billion rupees chipmaking plant in Gujarat state's Dholera, the minister said, while India's CG Power will partner with Japan's Renesas Electronics Corp and Thailand Stars Microelectronics for a 76 billion rupees plant, also in Gujarat.
A Tata unit, Tata Semiconductor Assembly and Test Pvt Ltd, will set up a 270 billion rupees plant in the eastern state of Assam, Vaishnaw added.
($1 = 82.9061 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Shivam Patel in New Delhi; Editing by YP Rajesh)
