Vedanta-Foxconn JV set to get govt approval for its chip-making plant

The centre is ready to approve the plans of the Vedanta-Foxconn joint venture to make semiconductor chips, a report in The Economic Times (ET) said. Senior government officials told the newspaper that this would be done under the aegis of the $10-billion India Semiconductor Mission (ISM).

With this plan, the government plans to establish India as a global hub for semiconductor manufacturing. The official was quoted in the report as saying, "Their plan is for fabrication of 40 nm (nanometre) chips — there are some conditions they need to fulfil. We are going to approve it."

To this end, Vedanta Foxconn Semiconductors Limited (VFSL) has signed agreements with two companies, GlobalFoundries and STMicroelectronics, to facilitate technology transfer. The report said the details of these two companies have been submitted to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).

Additionally, the government has directed VFSL to submit details of the "binding technology transfer agreement" with either of the two companies, the official aware of the developments said.

IT Ministry is the nodal ministry to oversee ISM. The ministry has suggested that GlobalFoundries and STMicro acquire a stake in VFSL. The two companies have responded positively to the suggestion, and their proposal is awaited.

VFSL is a joint venture between India's Vedanta Group and Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision Industry (Foxconn). The two have 63 and 37 per cent stake in the company, respectively. 

The company is initially looking to invest Rs 66,000 crore to set up a semiconductor manufacturing facility at Dholera in Gujarat. The joint venture has planned a total of Rs 1.54 lakh crore in investments for the Dholera facility.