Intel to get state grant of around $1 billion for Israel expansion - finance minister

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Intel Corp will receive a grant of about a billion dollars from the Israeli government for its planned, record-setting investment to expand its operations in the country, Israel's finance minister said on Tuesday.

"The moment the company comes to Israel and invests $10 billion, and it receives a grant of 9 percent, that means 91 percent of it stays here," Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon said in an interview on Army Radio.

"There are always such discounts, there are always incentives," he said.

Kahlon said on Monday he was informed by the chipmaker, already one of the biggest employers and exporters in Israel, where many of its new technologies are developed, would invest about 40 billion shekels ($11 billion) on a new factory.

California-based Intel said it will submit a business plan "for continued investment in the company's Kiryat Gat manufacturing site," in central Israel, but said it was not disclosing details, including the schedule, costs and technologies.

($1 = 3.6745 shekels)

(Reporting by Steven Scheer, Editing by Ari Rabinovitch)