Vedanta-Foxconn project in advanced stage of appraisal by Centre, says Gujarat govt

Last year, in September, Vedanta-Foxconn signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Gujarat government to jointly set up a Display FAB (fabrication) Unit with an investment of Rs 94,000 crore and an integrated semiconductor FAB unit and Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT) facility with an additional investment of Rs 60,000 crore. The company later identified land in Dholera SIR (Special Investment Region) for setting up these projects. The land is yet to be allocated.

On a question on the expected start of the groundwork for the project, Nehra said, “We are ready. Even as the project is being examined by the central government, parallelly, we are meeting with investors on almost a weekly basis. We are aligning all the things from our side, so that after the (Centre’s) approval, we do not waste time.” He was speaking on the sidelines of an event at GIFT City Thursday evening.

Under the state government’s new ‘Semiconductor Policy’, land is being given for the project at a 70 per cent discount. The state government is currently in talks with vendor and ecosystem partners who will come along with the Vedanta-Foxconn project. “When a FAB unit is set up, equipment and machinery will come from multiple countries. This includes Advanced Materials from Europe. We have identified some land for ecosystem partners. We have the master plan ready with us,” the official added.

The state government officials travelled to Taiwan last week for a “roadshow”. The attempt was to woo more semiconductor players to Gujarat. “This was the first time we were holding a roadshow without the help of any industry body. It was just the state government, helped by the Indian Embassy. I was worried about people turning up. However, we had a houseful. Dozens of companies have shown interest. Everybody knows that the government support here is huge. This will change the industrial landscape between Ahmedabad and Bhavnagar,” he added.

On Thursday, in the presence of Nehra and other state government officials an MoU was signed between the Electronic Industries Association of India (ELCINA) — a body representing the electronics industry in the country — and Gujarat’s IT Association GESIA for strategic partnership and sector development for electronics and semiconductor manufacturing design systems in the state.