Union Cabinet Approves Four New Semiconductor Projects Under ISM

The Union Cabinet on Tuesday approved four new semiconductor projects under the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM), signaling a major push to strengthen the country’s semiconductor ecosystem. 

This comes as six previously approved projects are already at various stages of implementation, and the new approvals will further consolidate India’s position in the global chip manufacturing landscape.

The newly sanctioned projects will see the establishment of India’s first commercial compound semiconductor fabrication facility, along with an advanced glass-based substrate semiconductor packaging unit. These facilities are expected to bolster the growing chip design capabilities in the country, supported by government-provided design infrastructure currently available to 278 academic institutions and 72 start-ups.

Given the rising demand for semiconductors in key sectors such as telecommunications, automotive, data centres, consumer electronics, and industrial electronics, these new projects are seen as a crucial step towards achieving the government’s Atmanirbhar Bharat vision.

The four projects come from SiCSem, Continental Device India Private Limited (CDIL), 3D Glass Solutions Inc., and Advanced System in Package (ASIP) Technologies, with total investments estimated at around Rs 4,600 crore. The facilities are expected to generate employment for over 2,000 skilled professionals and stimulate further indirect job opportunities in the electronic manufacturing sector. Following these approvals, the total number of ISM-approved projects now stands at ten, with combined investments of approximately Rs 1.60 lakh crore across six states.

Odisha will host two major facilities: SiCSem and 3D Glass Solutions. SiCSem, in partnership with Clas-SiC Wafer Fab Ltd. from the UK, is establishing an integrated Silicon Carbide (SiC) compound semiconductor facility in Info Valley, Bhubaneswar. The commercial compound fab will have the capacity to produce 60,000 wafers annually and package 96 million units, supplying components for missiles, defence equipment, electric vehicles, railways, fast chargers, data centre racks, consumer appliances, and solar power inverters.

3D Glass Solutions Inc. is setting up an advanced packaging and embedded glass substrate unit also in Info Valley, Bhubaneswar. The facility will introduce cutting-edge packaging technologies to India, including glass interposers with passives, silicon bridges, and 3D Heterogeneous Integration (3DHI) modules. Its annual production targets include 69,600 glass panel substrates, 50 million assembled units, and 13,200 3DHI modules, catering to defence, high-performance computing, artificial intelligence, RF and automotive, photonics, and co-packaged optics applications.

In Andhra Pradesh, Advanced System in Package Technologies (ASIP), in collaboration with South Korea’s APACT Co. Ltd., will establish a semiconductor production facility with an annual output of 96 million units. These will be used in mobile phones, set-top boxes, automotive components, and other electronic devices.

Continental Device India Limited (CDIL) will expand its discrete semiconductor manufacturing unit in Mohali, Punjab. The brownfield expansion will produce high-power discrete components, including MOSFETs, IGBTs, Schottky bypass diodes, and transistors using both silicon and Silicon Carbide, with a projected annual output of 158.38 million units. These components will be critical for automotive electronics, including electric vehicles and charging infrastructure, renewable energy systems, power conversion applications, industrial uses, and communication infrastructure.

Also Read: India’s Semiconductor Push Paves Path to Digital Sovereignty, Say Industry Experts