Tata Group aims to make Gujarat's Dholera the global epicentre of semiconductor excellence: Tata Electronics CEO Randhir Thakur

Speaking at the Gujarat SemiConnect Conference 2024, the CEO stressed on the importance of creating a robust supply chain and establishing a talent pool

By Naandika Tripathi Forbes India Staff

Published: Jul 19, 2024 05:03:16 PM IST

Updated: Jul 19, 2024 05:14:01 PM IST

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Randhir Thakur, CEO and Managing Director, Tata Electronics

On July 19, executives from US-based Micron, Tata Group, Taiwanese diplomats, and officials from the governments of India and Gujarat gathered at Gandhinagar’s Mahatma Mandir Convention Centre to commence the Gujarat SemiConnect Conference 2024. The officials urged local industries in the state to expand and diversify their product lines to become part of the emerging semiconductor ecosystem.

As Micron, Tata Electronics (TEPL) in collaboration with PSMC, Taiwan, and CG Power in collaboration with Renesas, Japan, are all targeting to set up their plants in Sanand and Dholera, support from local suppliers will play a crucial role. “For one Tata electronics semiconductor fabrication facility to run successfully, they will probably need about 300 distinct suppliers in the vicinity,” said S Krishnan, secretary, Ministry of electronics and information technology, government of India, at the event.

Earlier this year, the government approved Tata’s proposal to build a semiconductor manufacturing facility in Dholera, Gujarat, in partnership with Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (PSMC). The fab construction is underway and is expected to be ready by 2026. With an investment of Rs 91,000 crore, Tata Electronics aims to build India’s first AI-enabled state-of-the-art fab.

It will have a manufacturing capacity of up to 50,000 wafers per month and will include next-generation factory automation capabilities deploying data analytics and machine learning. The semiconductor fab will manufacture chips for applications such as power management ICs, display drivers, microcontrollers (MCUs), and high-performance computing logic, addressing the growing demand in markets such as automotive, computing and data storage, wireless communication, and artificial intelligence.

Recently, N Chandrasekaran, the chairman of Tata Sons, assumed the additional role of chairman at Tata Electronics. This transition comes as Tata Electronics is rapidly expanding its semiconductor business. Last year, a former executive from Intel Foundry Services, Randhir Thakur, joined as CEO and MD. For the first time since assuming the role Thakur spoke at a public event, stressing the importance of creating a robust supply chain, establishing a talent pool, and more. Edited excerpts:

On collaboration with the government

Through proactive and practical policies, the government of Gujarat has successfully secured three out of four semiconductor projects sanctioned by the government of India, along with more than 80 percent of the total investments allocated for the semiconductor programme. These efforts position Gujarat to make a significant and enduring impact on the nation and the global supply chain.

Key factors for semiconductor manufacturing

I firmly believe that to establish a successful innovation-driven manufacturing business, there are three essential components: Technology, talent, and investment. Any one of them is not enough. The governments of India and Gujarat have already taken a bold step by providing the capital necessary for establishing semiconductor businesses. The Tata Group has been able to secure the technology needed for the specialised facility through our partnership with Powerchip, from Taiwan.

On skill development

We are looking forward to collaborating with industry, academic institutions, and other ecosystem players to build the semiconductor talent and infrastructure of tomorrow, right here in Gujarat. We are actively establishing talent as our primary competitive advantage by recruiting global domain experts, consummating partnerships with institutions like IIT Gandhinagar to cultivate tomorrow's workforce, and developing world-class social infrastructure to support this international talent pool.

On building in Gujarat

In Gujarat, we have committed to investing $11 billion towards our fab project in Dholera, which will generate over 20,000 jobs, marking just the beginning of our journey. This first semiconductor fab in Dholera will bring more than 2,000 ecosystem partners and suppliers, and a few of them have already started working with us.

As we build India's first greenfield AI-enabled fab in Gujarat, a key focus for us will be on promoting local industries. As we execute at scale, it is important for us to remember that time is of the essence; schedule is always king in the semiconductor industry. So a robust local suppliers’ ecosystem is a differentiating factor and is critical to success both in the construction phase of the fab and even after consummating the operations.

I always say that nobody makes these chips alone. It takes a team. We are already working closely with key global partners to develop a roadmap for building a largely self-sustaining ecosystem across tools, specialty gases, chemicals, and utilities like power, water, and effluent treatment. This would be a great opportunity for local industries to participate in this high-technology ecosystem that will support Indian and global semiconductor supply chains.

There is considerable anticipation among the global customer base regarding these advancements unfolding in India. During my visit to the US last week, I had the opportunity to meet many customers. And I'm pleased to report that they view India and Tata as reliable partners for their semiconductor products. This confidence from customers and their endorsement significantly validates the vision and effort of the government over the years.