India, US ink pact to set up semiconductor fab for national security, next-gen telecom

The fab, focused on “advanced sensing, communication and power electronics”, will be enabled by support from the India Semiconductor Mission as well as a strategic technology partnership between Bharat Semi, 3rdiTech, and the US Space Force, the statement said. “It will be established with the objective of manufacturing infrared, gallium nitride and silicon carbide semiconductors,” it added.

Drawing a parallel with the Indo-US civil nuclear deal, sources said the fab titled “Shakti”, or power, would not only be the first technology partnership between Indian businesses and the US Space Force but also a first in the Quad, a 4-member strategic security forum also comprising Japan and Australia.

They said it will focus on three essential pillars for modern war fighting: advanced sensing, advanced communications and high voltage power electronics. These three areas also have huge growing needs for commercial sectors such as railways, telecom infrastructure and data centres and green energy, sources said.

The infrared, gallium nitride and silicon carbide semiconductors fall under the category known as compound semiconductors. According to sources, India’s current imports bill for these semiconductors for national security alone is USD 1 billion a year

Describing the new arrangement as “glass-ceiling broken” in tech diplomacy, a source said: “India and US have signed multiple cooperation focused on critical tech with a special focus on semiconductors — from iCET to commerce MoU to the strategic trade dialogue… This became the first true India-US semiconductor fab project. Other projects in the past have included testing and assembly… but this is raising the game and going into true chip fabrication, the holy grail of semiconductors,” the source said.

After this technology partnership, India will join a handful of elite nations with the capability and knowhow to manufacture these types of semiconductors on shore, sources said, adding that India will be a stable trusted supply chain in the most critical of national security technology.