August 13, 2025

Big news is buzzing in the technology world! The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bhubaneswar is stepping into the semiconductor arena with a whopping Rs 45 crore investment in SicSem's new plant. Announced by Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Tuesday, this plant is part of a massive Rs 2,066 crore project to build one of India’s most advanced chip factories in Bhubaneswar’s Info Valley, Odisha. SicSem is teaming up with Clas-SiC Wafer Fab from the UK to create the country’s very first commercial compound semiconductor fab. What’s cooking here? An integrated facility to manufacture Silicon Carbide (SiC) devices! This fab will be powerful enough to churn out 60,000 wafers every year and package 96 million units annually. And guess what? These chips won’t just sit pretty—they'll power high-tech stuff like missiles, defence gear, electric vehicles (EVs), railways, fast chargers, data centres, home gadgets, and solar power inverters. This means the plant is not just a factory; it’s a powerhouse for India’s future tech! Minister Vaishnaw told the media, “Giant tech firms such as Intel and Lockheed Martin have made their investments in the company.” He didn’t stop there. Calling it the “most advanced plant in the world,” he assured everyone that all four semiconductor plants approved by the Cabinet will start construction very soon. After the announcement, the Minister shared some juicy updates: “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.” Smiles from the Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha, who thanked the Prime Minister and promised speedy starts, show the momentum behind this push. This announcement aligns with the Centre’s huge India Semiconductor Mission (ISM), which just gave a green light to four new semiconductor projects worth Rs 4,600 crore. These will create over 2,000 skilled jobs and ramp up chip production right here at home. Talking about the bigger picture, Minister Vaishnaw said six more semiconductor plants are already under construction across the country and making “good” progress. India is gearing up to deliver its very first domestically made chip soon! So far, the ISM has approved 10 projects across six states, with total investments touching Rs 1.6 lakh crore. It’s a massive push to build a self-reliant semiconductor ecosystem that supports everything from defence tech to your everyday electronics. Looking closer to home, Odisha shines as a budding chip hub, hosting two new projects in Info Valley, Bhubaneswar. In May, the government also approved a sixth fab near Jewar Airport in Uttar Pradesh, a joint project by the HCL Group and Taiwan’s Foxconn, expected to create 2,000 jobs and produce 36 million chips a month. Other plants? Four in Gujarat (including Tata and Micron units) and one in Assam, all setting the stage for a tech boom. In short, India’s chip story is rocking, and with IIT Bhubaneswar joining the party alongside giants like Intel and Lockheed Martin, the future looks electrifying. Hold on tight, because the semiconductor revolution is ready to roll from India’s heartland!

Read More at Economictimes →

Tags: Semiconductor, Iit bhubaneswar, Sicsem, Investment, Chip manufacturing, India semiconductor mission,