Adani-Tower JV plan for $10 bn chip plant gets Maharashtra nod

The Maharashtra state government has approved a proposal by Adani Group and Israel’s Tower Semiconductor Ltd to set up a semiconductor fabrication plant with an investment of $10 billion.

The chip manufacturing facility will come up at Taloja on the outskirts of Mumbai.

Devendra Fadnavis, deputy chief minister of the state, made the announcement on Thursday following a cabinet sub-committee meeting led by state chief minister Eknath Shinde.

The plant will manufacture 40,000 wafers under phase 1 of the project, followed by 80,000 in the second, Fadnavis said in the post on X (formerly Twitter).

Fadnavis did not share a timeline for the projects, which are expected to create more than 5,000 jobs.

The project may take up to five years to build, Bloomberg reported, citing an unnamed person familiar with the planning, and added that the conglomerate may fund the investment through its internal accruals and some debt.

The semiconductors manufactured at the facility are exopcted be used in drones, automobiles, phones and other mobility solutions.

India’s push into the semiconductor industry is gaining momentum, with proposals totaling $21 billion aimed at enhancing national capabilities. This includes over $15 billion already earmarked for chip manufacturing facilities earlier this year.

To woo global players, India has set up a $10 billion incentive fund. The initiative has drawn Micron Technology Inc. from the US, which is setting up a $2.75 billion assembly plant in Gujarat.

The Tatas have tied up with Taiwan’s Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. for a $11 billion chip fabrication plant in Dholera in Gujarat.

The plant will churn out 50,000 units of mature chips using 40-nanometer or older technology