IIT Bhubaneswar to set up research lab with investment of Rs 45 crore in SiCSem semiconductor unit

New Delhi, [India] August 12 (ANI): Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bhubaneswar will set up a research lab with an investment of Rs 45 crore in the SiCSem semiconductor unit, said Union Information and Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Tuesday.
SicSem Private Limited, one of the companies that recieved approval to build its semiconductor plant with an investment of Rs 2,066 crore, is collaborating with Clas-SiC Wafer Fab Ltd, UK, to establish an integrated facility of Silicon Carbide (SiC) based Compound Semiconductors in Info Valley, Bhubaneshwar, Odisha.
This will be the first commercial compound fab in the country. The project proposes to manufacture Silicon Carbide devices. This compound semiconductor fab will have an annual capacity of 60,000 wafers and a packaging capacity of 96 million units, according to the official release.
The proposed products will have applications in missiles, defence equipment, electric vehicles (EVs), railway, fast chargers, data centre racks, consumer appliances, and solar power inverters.
The Union Minister informed that giant tech firms such as Intel and Lockheed Martin have made their investments in the company. He said that this plant will be "the most advanced plant in the world."
Union Minister said that all four semiconductor plants approved by the Cabinet will start their construction work very soon.
Speaking to the media persons after the announcement of the Cabinet's decision in the national capital, Union Minister said, "All four Plants will start their construction work very soon. As you have seen in the case of the first six Plants, the permissions and everything came in a record time, within 100 days most of the time, and within 6 months they started their design and construction. Same progress, we think, we will have in this."

"CMs of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha spoke with me just now. They thanked the Prime Minister and they committed that they will start the construction work in record time," Vaishnaw added.
In a significant push to India's chip-making ambitions, the Centre approved four new semiconductor manufacturing projects with a total investment of Rs 4,600 crore under the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM).
The projects will boost domestic production of chips, packaging and advanced materials, generating over 2,000 skilled jobs directly.

The Union Minister also apprised the status of the six under-construction semiconductor plants in different parts of the country, adding that all of them are making "good" progress and very soon the country will deliver its first domestically-produced chip.
Out of the four projects that have been approved, two are in Odisha, one in Punjab, and one in Andhra Pradesh.
The approvals take the total India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) portfolio to 10 projects across six states with cumulative investments of Rs 1.6 lakh crore. The government said the move is in line with its vision of building a robust and self-reliant semiconductor ecosystem to support sectors ranging from defence to consumer electronics.
Two of the approved projects will come up in Odisha's Info Valley, Bhubaneswar, making the state an emerging hub for the sector.
In May, the Union Cabinet approved India's sixth semiconductor manufacturing unit in Jewar in western Uttar Pradesh. It will be established near Jewar Airport through a joint venture between the HCL Group and Taiwanese electronics giant Foxconn.
The sixth unit is expected to generate employment for around 2,000 people and will help significantly in strengthening India's semiconductor ecosystem. The unit at Jewar will have a 20,000 wafers per month capacity, and the chips will have 36 million (3.6 crore) per month.
Among other five semiconductor plants, four are in Gujarat: Tata Electronics-PSMC Semiconductor fab, CG Power-Renesas-Stars Microelectronics ATMP unit , Micron Technology's ATMP unit and Kaynes Semicon ATMP unit, while the Tata Semiconductor Assembly and Test (TSAT) Unit is in Assam. (ANI)