NEW DELHI: Six companies, including Reliance Industries (RIL), Videocon, Moser Baer and Signet Solar, have committed investments worth Rs 65,000 crore to set up semiconductor and other micro-technology units in the country. The companies have sought a cumulative capital subsidy of Rs 13,191.16 crore under the semiconductor policy for setting up the units.
“The investments are envisaged over 10 years and would be for manufacture of
silicon chips, solar photovoltaic (SPV) cells and LCD monitors, among other things,” communications minister A Raja said on Thursday. As reported by ET, several companies had shown interest in setting up fab units, of which 11 still need to submit their financial proposals.
RIL has submitted the financial proposal for setting up two units with a cumulative investment of over Rs 30,000 crore. One unit would be for manufacture of semiconductor wafer fab with assembly, test, mark and packaging facility at an investment of Rs 18,521 crore. RIL is in talks with the governments of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Haryana to finalise the site for the plant. The unit is likely to employ about 4,000 people.
The second Reliance plant is to come up at Jamnagar in Gujarat at a cost of Rs 11,631 crore. It will manufacture polysilicon, single crystal/multi-crystalline ingots, solar grade wafers, SPV modules with a capacity of 1 giga watts. The plant is expected to create over 11,000 skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled jobs. RIL has asked for a capital subsidy of over Rs 5,600 crore for setting up the two units.
When contacted, a RIL spokesperson said: “The group is currently evaluating an investment in an integrated semiconductor facility. The group will make necessary announcements when the plans are final.” The spokesperson refused to divulge details.
Videocon plans to set up its unit in Navi Mumbai at a cost of Rs 8,000 crore and has asked for a capital subsidy of Rs 2,000 crore. Moser Baer PV Technologies India would set up its unit in New Chennai at a cost of Rs 6,000 crore, while Titan Energy System plans to house its Rs 5,880-crore unit in Hyderabad. KSK Energy Ventures and Signet Solar will set up their fab units in Hyderabad and Sriperembudur, Tamil Nadu, respectively.
The companies have written to the department of Information Technology (DIT) seeking capital subsidy under the semiconductor policy announced last year. Under the scheme, the Centre has to provide an incentive of 20% of capital expenditure during the first 10 years for units in SEZs and 25% of capital expenditure in non-SEZ units.
