IIT Bhubaneswar to Power India's First Commercial Compound Semiconductor Fab
- IIT Bhubaneswar to set up a Rs 45 crore research lab in SiCSem’s Rs 2,066 crore semiconductor unit.
- Facility will be India’s first commercial Silicon Carbide-based compound semiconductor fab.
- Part of four new semiconductor projects under India Semiconductor Mission, boosting domestic chip production.
In a significant boost to India’s semiconductor manufacturing ambitions, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bhubaneswar will establish a Rs 45 crore research lab within the SiCSem semiconductor unit, Union Information and Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced. The facility will be part of the country’s first commercial compound semiconductor fabrication (fab) plant, located in Info Valley, Bhubaneswar, Odisha.
SiCSem, which recently received approval to build its semiconductor plant with an investment of Rs 2,066 crore, is collaborating with UK-based Clas-SiC Wafer Fab to create an integrated Silicon Carbide (SiC) compound semiconductor facility. Once operational, the plant will have an annual production capacity of 60,000 wafers and a packaging capacity of 96 million units, according to an official release.
The new fab will produce Silicon Carbide devices used in a wide range of applications, including missiles, defence equipment, electric vehicles (EVs), railways, fast chargers, data centre racks, consumer appliances, and solar power inverters. Vaishnaw highlighted that global technology leaders such as Intel and Lockheed Martin have already invested in the company, and described the plant as 'the most advanced in the world'.
This development is part of a larger semiconductor push by the Centre. The Union Cabinet has approved four new semiconductor manufacturing projects worth Rs 4,600 crore under the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM). These projects are expected to enhance domestic chip production, packaging capabilities, and advanced materials manufacturing while creating over 2,000 direct skilled jobs. Out of these, two plants will be in Odisha, one in Punjab, and one in Andhra Pradesh.
Vaishnaw assured that construction of all four newly approved plants will begin soon. “As you have seen in the case of the first six plants, permissions came in record time within 100 days and within six months they began design and construction. We expect the same pace for these projects”, he said. The Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha have committed to starting construction in record time, he added.
The approvals bring the ISM’s total portfolio to 10 projects across six states, with cumulative investments reaching Rs 1.6 lakh crore. The government says the initiative aligns with its vision of building a robust, self-reliant semiconductor ecosystem supporting sectors from defence to consumer electronics. Odisha, with two projects in Bhubaneswar’s Info Valley, is emerging as a major hub for semiconductor manufacturing.
Earlier in May, the Union Cabinet cleared India’s sixth semiconductor manufacturing unit in Jewar, Uttar Pradesh, to be set up near Jewar Airport in partnership between the HCL Group and Taiwanese electronics major Foxconn. This facility is projected to generate 2,000 jobs and will have a monthly capacity of 20,000 wafers and 36 million chips.
Of the other five approved plants, four are located in Gujarat: Tata Electronics-PSMC Semiconductor fab, CG Power-Renesas-Stars Microelectronics ATMP unit, Micron Technology’s ATMP unit, and Kaynes Semicon ATMP unit. Additionally, the Tata Semiconductor Assembly and Test (TSAT) Unit is in Assam. All six ongoing plants are making steady progress, and the country is expected to roll out its first domestically produced chip soon.
With the IIT Bhubaneswar research lab and SiCSem’s advanced fabrication facility, India is taking a major step towards becoming a global leader in the semiconductor space, reducing import dependency, and driving innovation in high-tech manufacturing.
