Govt clears 3 chip plants: Tatas have built their own tech, says Vaishnaw

Union Electronics and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw talks to Surajeet Das Gupta on Cabinet clearance of three semiconductor projects, including the mega Tata fab proposal. Edited excerpts:

What is the timeline for the Tata fab project? Do you think PSMC as a technology partner will take a stake in it?
 

Work will start in 100 days and such projects take four-five years to complete. But we are expecting that one can significantly reduce the time to two-three years. And yes, PSMC will take equity in the company but the details will be negotiated by the two.
 

What about the ATMP (assembly, testing, marking, and packaging) plant the Tatas are going to build in Assam? Where will the technology come from?
 

The Tatas have built their own indigenous ATMP technology. So we won’t require a foreign technology partner here.

Will they share the technology with other Indian companies?

They will have the intellectual property right and I am sure they will.

What is the market for ATMP? Will it be for their own consumption?
 

No. They will address both the domestic and global markets, especially automobiles, and they will also include key markets 

like the US, Europe, and Japan. Even in the fab plant, they will supply the domestic market as well as global players.

With these projects and Micron you have hit the cap of $10 billion. So will the government put in more money?
 

With all these projects, total investment would be around Rs 1.5 trillion. Our semiconductor vision is for 20 years and strategic. 

So that will not be an issue.