On November 1, Taiwan’s leading wafer foundry, Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (PSMC), announced the official launch of its collaboration with India’s Tata Group to build India’s first 12-inch wafer fab. PSMC has received the first installment payment for Fab IP from Tata Group, and design work for the new plant will proceed actively. Additionally, a high-capacity interposer that has been validated by customers will also begin mass production and delivery.
On September 27 of this year, PSMC signed a Definitive Agreement with Tata Electronics, a subsidiary of Tata Group, in New Delhi. Under this agreement, PSMC will provide technology licensing (rather than investment) to assist Tata Electronics in constructing the first 12-inch wafer fab in Dholera, Gujarat, India. PSMC will transfer mature process technology and train Indian employees. The total investment for this 12-inch fab is expected to reach $11 billion, with a monthly production capacity of 50,000 wafers, and it is projected to create over 20,000 high-tech jobs locally.
The 12-inch fab will primarily utilize PSMC’s mature process technologies and is planned to produce power management chips, panel driver chips, microcontrollers, and high-speed logic chips, targeting automotive, computing and data storage, wireless communication, and artificial intelligence markets. The required $11 billion investment will mainly come from Tata Group and the Indian government, while PSMC will provide process technology, plant construction, and operational experience (with Tata Group covering the related Fab IP fees). Once the fab is operational, PSMC plans to gradually reduce its involvement in the fab’s establishment, potentially remaining only as a shareholder.
In a recent statement, PSMC indicated that Tata Microelectronics has transferred the first installment payment to PSMC’s account based on the agreed Fab IP contract. PSMC has also begun sending engineering teams responsible for design and construction to Tata Microelectronics in Mumbai and the Dholera Science Park in Gujarat to start collaborating with Tata Group’s semiconductor team on the design and site inspection of India’s first 12-inch wafer fab.
Tata Group has announced plans to complete the 12-inch wafer fab by 2026 and commence mass production. To facilitate this active construction timeline, PSMC will work closely with Tata Microelectronics, dispatching professional teams to guide the Dholera site and establishing a dedicated area at Tata’s new facility in Taiwan to train Tata Microelectronics employees, thereby accelerating subsequent technology transfer and fab operations.
PSMC stated that as construction of the new fab in India progresses rapidly, it will collect corresponding professional consulting, service, and technology transfer fees according to the project milestones outlined in the contract. The first installment received is a significant milestone for the implementation of the Fab IP business, and the future project of the 12-inch fab in India is expected to generate over NT$20 billion in profits.
PSMC also revealed that due to the active establishment of AI computing capabilities by major international tech companies, its customized high-capacity interposer has entered the stocking phase after customer validation and will begin mass production and delivery by the end of this year. PSMC’s recently developed Wafer on Wafer stacking technology has also gained recognition from major partners, with mass production of four-layer DRAM wafer stacking products starting soon, set for customer production validation next year to align with downstream clients’ marketing plans for future Edge AI applications.
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