Vedanta-Foxconn selects Dholera for first chip facility in India

In the largest corporate investment in the history of independent India, a joint venture between Vedanta and Foxconn signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Gujarat government in September last year to invest Rs 1,54,000 crore to set up the plant in the state. This will be India's first semiconductor manufacturing plant.

At the time, the joint venture did not disclose the exact location of the facility.

"After conducting a detailed site analysis in consultation with government authorities in Gujarat, the joint venture of Vedanta and Foxconn Dholera SIR has selected to build and offer the semiconductor manufacturing facility. The project is at an advanced stage of appraisal by part of the Government of India,” the official said.

The MoU was signed in September last year in Gandhinagar in the presence of the Minister for Railways, Telecommunications, Electronics and Information Technology, Ashwini Vaishnaw.

Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel said on the occasion that the two companies will invest Rs 1,54,000 crore to set up the facility in Gujarat, which will create 1 lakh jobs. Patel also said his administration will further cooperation to establish the facility and make it a success.

Notably, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while addressing a recognition rally in Bhavnagar in November ahead of the assembly elections, gave a clear indication that the mega semiconductor plant would be set up at Dholera SIR, some 100 kilometers from Ahmedabad.

This project is likely to receive large subsidies and incentives, such as zero stamp duty on the purchase of subsidized land, water and electricity, under the 'Gujarat Semiconductor Policy 2022-27' announced by the state government in July last year.

A government official earlier said that Gujarat became the first state in the country to have such a policy dedicated to the display and semiconductor manufacturing sector.

Under this policy, eligible projects will receive a 75 percent subsidy when purchasing the first 200 acres of land to establish manufacturing units. For the first five years, eligible projects would receive high-quality water at a cost of Rs 12 per cubic metre.