Indian semiconductor ecosystem: News, Updates & Discussions.

[Gautam]

Chhattisgarh to get semiconductor plant; GaN chips to power 5G, 6G from Nava Raipur

PTI
Last Updated: Apr 10, 2025, 07:35:00 PM IST

Synopsis
The chips produced at the factory will just not power everyday devices, they will fuel the future, enabling next gen 5G and 6G networks, high-performance laptops, defence technologies, data analytics, and cutting-edge power electronics.​

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai will lay the foundation stone for the country's first Gallium Nitride (GaN)-based semiconductor manufacturing unit in Nava Raipur on April 11. With an investment of Rs 1,143 crore, the project will place Chhattisgarh at the forefront of the global semiconductor industry, officials said.

The chips produced at the factory will just not power everyday devices, they will fuel the future, enabling next gen 5G and 6G networks, high-performance laptops, defence technologies, data analytics, and cutting-edge power electronics.

The state-of-the-art facility will be developed by Chennai-based Polymatech Electronics, with an ambitious production target of 10 billion chips annually by 2030. The plant's establishment marks a crucial step in India's drive to reduce its dependency on semiconductor imports and bolster its position as a global tech powerhouse.

Speaking on the development, Rajat Kumar, Secretary, Chhattisgarh Commerce and Industry Department, said, "This partnership with Polymatech will transform Chhattisgarh into a global hub for tech innovation. Investor-friendly policies, world-class infrastructure, and fast-track decision-making are turning this vision into reality".

Calling it a historic milestone for Chhattisgarh, Sai said, "Chhattisgarh is now poised to shine on the semiconductor map. This project is a major stride towards fulfilling the vision of Make in India and Digital India".

Globally, Gallium Nitride (GaN) is being seen as a game-changer in the semiconductor world. GaN chips are faster, more energy-efficient, and highly durable, making them the ideal choice for next-gen technologies.

Chhattisgarh to get semiconductor plant; GaN chips to power 5G, 6G from Nava Raipur

 

[Gautam]

India developing 25 chipsets with indigenous intellectual property: Ashwini Vaishnaw

Twenty chips developed by students will soon be taped out at the Semiconductor Laboratory in Mohali, boosting confidence and paving the way for 85,000 skilled engineers over the next decade.

Moneycontrol
April 12, 2025 / 13:33 IST

Vaishnaw noted that 13 projects are currently underway, led by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), Bengaluru.

India is developing 25 chipsets with indigenous intellectual property (IP), particularly in high-risk areas like surveillance and Wi-Fi access, under the Design-Linked Incentive (DLI) scheme, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has stated.

Vaishnaw, in a recent interview with Business Standard, noted that 13 projects are currently underway, led by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), Bengaluru. “Owning IP ensures security and transforms us from a services nation to a product nation,” he said, further adding that the upcoming semiconductor fabs will manufacture these chips locally.

Moreover, the minister stated that the government has supported 240 educational institutions with world-class chip design tools to foster talent. Twenty chips developed by students will soon be taped out at the Semiconductor Laboratory in Mohali, boosting confidence and paving the way for 85,000 skilled engineers over the next decade.

Additionally, Vaishnaw revealed that the newly launched Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for electronic components is set to double value addition within five years. Electronics production has grown fivefold and exports sixfold over the past decade, driven by the PLI, which has also generated 2.5 million jobs.

He also mentioned that India is shifting from import substitution to export-led growth in electronics. “Make in India, make for the world,” Vaishnaw underlined, as efforts continue to integrate with global supply chains.

Responding to concerns over the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, Vaishnaw assured that it aligns with the RTI Act and Supreme Court rulings. “Public-interest data will remain accessible,” he said.

https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/i...ctual-property-ashwini-vaishnaw-12992468.html

 

[lcafanboy]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1912160395655065756

 

[Gautam]

Indigenous high-power microwave transistors


Image: Sagun Shekar

Most gallium nitride (GaN) microwave transistors are import-restricted because these are highly strategic in nature and are used in radars, jammers, electronic warfare and even telecom infrastructure. These transistors amplify or boost the radio waves when sent from the transmitter in most wireless communication or military applications.

Almost all such GaN transistors are realised on the rather expensive silicon carbide (SiC) platform; developing these devices on GaN on silicon platform is promising for economy of scale and volume. However, such an approach has its own set of challenges.

In new work, for the first time in India, researchers at the Centre for Nano Science and Engineering (CeNSE) have developed and demonstrated a fully indigenous GaN on silicon microwave transistor wherein the material stack or the wafer is grown at IISc, and the transistors are fully designed, fabricated and tested at IISc. The team has achieved a power of 8W at a frequency of 10 GHz, which is of strategic interest. For this, the atomic layer-by-layer deposition of the material stack was carefully studied and optimized and the know-how of fabrication of various unit process modules was developed.

The researchers engineered the energy landscape of the material-stack by tuning a fundamental property of GaN, called ‘polarization’. This helped them get rid of intentional impurities such as carbon or iron that are otherwise mandatory to be added in such wafers to make them withstand high voltages.

For the first time, the team has demonstrated microwave power transistors based on GaN-on-silicon which do not contain any intentional carbon or iron impurities.


From left to right: Hareesh Chandrashekar, Roopa Jayaramaiah, Digbijoy Nath, Shonkho Shuvro, Aniruddhan Gowrisankar, Srinivasan Raghavan, Prosenjit Sen (Photo: Sagun Shekar)

REFERENCE: Shuvro S, Gowrisankar A, Jayaramaiah R, Venugopalrao A, Chandrasekar H, Sen P, Muralidharan R, 8 W at 10 GHz in AlGaN/GaN High Electron Mobility Transistors on Silicon Without Any Carbon or Iron Doping, Physica Status Solidi RRL (2025) https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/pssr.202400409

Indian Institute of Science

Simply put they CeNSE has built domestic fabrication capability of 8W GaN HEMT on Si. The HEMT has a 10GHz which is X-band so military targeting radars/seekers can use these. 8W is still low power for large radars, so this HEMT can be used in seekers only. The fabrication was done on a domestically developed 220 nm node. Further improvements are expected as the Si substrate in thinned & thermal management is improved.

 

[Gautam]

Suchi Semicon Ships First Semiconductor Chip to U.S. Client

17/04/2025


Gujarat-based Suchi Semicon has sent its first packaged semiconductor chip to a U.S.-based consumer electronics company for testing and approval, founder Ashok Mehta confirmed. Commercial production is expected to begin by late April, with the company targeting an annual revenue of ₹75–80 crore by the end of the year.

“This is our first shipment to the U.S. for qualification and testing. We’re working with two clients there, and once the chip is approved, we’ll begin production. The testing process should take about two weeks, and we expect to start manufacturing within three to four weeks,” Mehta said.

SuchiSemicon launched its Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT) plant in Surat in December 2024, backed by an initial investment of ₹870 crore. Before entering the semiconductor space, the Suchi Group was known for running one of the country’s largest textile embroidery units.

Co-founder Shetal Mehta said the company’s transition from textiles to semiconductors raised eyebrows, but the move was driven by opportunity. “When we began exploring new areas, semiconductors stood out. India still imports 99% of its semiconductor devices. We saw a clear gap in local production and decided to address it by entering a high-growth sector.”

The Surat plant is fully operational, with equipment installed, trial runs completed, and trained personnel ready. It currently has the capacity to produce 1.5 lakh chips daily, with expansion plans targeting up to 3 million chips per day within three to five years. “Our current setup can handle orders from our two initial clients. As we grow, we’ll bring more customers on board,” said Ashok Mehta.

The company has applied for incentives under the central government’s Scheme for Promotion of Manufacturing of Electronic Components and Semiconductors (SPECS), but did not wait for approval to start production. Support from the Gujarat government, including a 20% subsidy on infrastructure and machinery costs, has helped ease the initial investment burden, the founders noted.

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