Cabinet approves Rs 15,000 crore of silicon chip manufacturing project

Cabinet approves Rs 15,000 crore of silicon chip manufacturing project
New Indian Express

BANGALORE: After creating a niche in software sector, Bangalore is all set to make a foray into semi-conductor industry in a big way. A special Cabinet meeting on Thursday cleared the multi crore project to set up a silicon chip (micro chip) manufacturing unit on the outskirts of the City.

The project named as “Fab City'' will be set up on 1,500 acre land is likely to be located between Bangalore-Mysore Stretch. With an estimated investment of Rs 15,000 crore, the unit is expected to generate not less than 20,000 jobs once it becomes operational.

Bangalore is the third City in the South to make a foray into serious chip manufacturing business. Similar industries have come up in Hyderabad while, the Tamil Nadu government has already approved such a project to be set up in Chennai.

Briefing Cabinet decisions to media persons on Thursday, Information Minister B Shivaram said that the Cabinet approved the proposal of Messers Semi India to set up a micro chip industry. The Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) will acquire the required land for the project, he added.

The State government had held a meeting with Semi India CEO Vinod Agrawal on Wednesday and offered total support for the unit. The project envisaged setting up a Wafer Fabs City. Wafer is the advanced version, which contains thousands of silicon chips.

Besides providing land to the company, the government will also give other sops like tax rebate, subsidy, ten million gallons of water and 60 MW of uninterrupted power supply per day.

Shivaram said that the chip industry will not only boost employment generation but will also compliment the existing software sector.

“Presently, micro chips are being imported from China, Taiwan and South Korea. They are proving to be very expensive,'' he said explaining the need to set up chip industry in Bangalore.