Foxconn in talks with TSMC, TMH group to make chips in India: Report

Foxconn, with the two companies, is expected to make both advanced as well as legacy chips in India

Don't want to miss the best from Business Standard?

Foxconn is in talks with Taiwan's chip-making giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) and Japan's TMH Group for a joint venture and technology partnership to start semiconductor fab units in India, The Economic Times (ET) reported on Friday citing people aware of the matter.

This comes days after Foxconn and Vedanta Group called off their chip joint venture.

TSMC is among the world's top chip makers and TMH Group provides semiconductor solutions, and operation and maintenance of manufacturing equipment.

Foxconn, according to the report, has been in talks with the two companies for some time now and is soon expected to announce the details of the partnership. The companies are expected to make both advanced as well as legacy chips in India.

The Taiwanese company's JV with Vedanta was called off after the two failed to get a technology partner on board. The Centre had asked them to do so as both Foxconn and Vedanta are new to chip making.

While still in JV, Foxconn was in talks with Europe's STMicro and GlobalFoundaries of the US for a tech partnership. It could still sign the deal with these two companies, another person quoted by ET said.

Hon Hai Technology Group, commonly known as Foxconn, and Anil Agarwal-led Vedanta Group had announced their joint venture to manufacture chips and display panels in India in February 2022, making it one of the early participants in the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM). It was conceived as a cornerstone of the Centre's plan to develop domestic capability in the strategic industry.

In December 2021, the government announced a $10 billion semiconductor incentive programme to provide a 50 per cent subsidy on capital expenditure to companies for setting up chip manufacturing units in the country.

To attract such projects under the ISM, states had decided to provide further subsidies of 15-25 per cent.