Vedanta Ltd has selected Gujarat for its semiconductor project, according to Reuters. This is the first major step in its $20 billion joint venture with Taiwan’s Foxconn.
Vedanta obtained financial and non-financial subsidies including on capital expenditure and cheap electricity from Gujarat to build the semiconductor plants, the news agency quoted a source as saying.
The project will include display and semiconductor facilities near the largest city of Ahmedabad in the western state.
While lobbying for incentives, Vedanta had sought 1,000 acres (405 hectares) of land free of cost on a 99-year lease, and water and power at concessionary and fixed prices for 20 years, Reuters had reported in April.
An announcement is expected this week with a formal signing of a memorandum of understanding between the two sides, which is likely to be attended by Patel and Vedanta officials.
Other regions including India’s richest state of Maharashtra in west and Telangana and Karnataka in the south had also been in the running to host Vedanta-Foxconn’s mega project.
But in the last leg of negotiations in recent weeks, Gujarat pipped Maharashtra to the post.
According to the government, India’s semiconductor market is estimated to reach $63 billion by 2026 from $15 billion in 2020.
Most of the world’s chip output is limited to a few countries like Taiwan and late entrant India is now actively luring companies to “usher in a new era in electronics manufacturing” as it seeks for ways to have seamless access to chips.
Vedanta, an oil-to-metals conglomerate, decided in February to diversify into chip manufacturing and formed the joint venture with Foxconn.
