Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Saturday laid the foundation stone for the ₹3,700-crore HCL–Foxconn semiconductor facility at YEIDA in Jewar, with operations targeted by 2028.
The project — to be developed by India Chip, a 60:40 joint venture between HCL Group and Taiwan’s Foxconn — will manufacture display driver integrated circuits (DDICs), widely used across consumer electronics and automobiles.
The inauguration was attended by Union Electronics and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, among others.
“Developed India will be built only when India is self-reliant. For this, Made in India chip is very important. Whatever India is doing in the field of technology in this decade, it will become the foundation of our capability in the 21st century,” Modi said.
Facility to peak capacity at 2028
At peak capacity in 2028, the plant is expected to produce around 36 million chips annually. The investment will receive 55–70% support from the centre and state governments. The investment is expected to create over 3,500 direct and indirect jobs, build local supply chains, and attract ecosystem partners across the semiconductor value chain, the company said.
HCL Chairperson Roshni Nadar said that the facility is expected to cater to a large share of local demand. “We do see that the maximum demand will come from India itself,” she said, indicating that 60–70% of output will be consumed domestically, with the unit meeting roughly a quarter of India’s requirements in display driver chips, a segment currently entirely import-dependent. The remaining company revenue is expected to come from exports.
The outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) facility
The outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) facility will initially process 20,000 wafers per month. “At full production capacity after 2 years, we will be able to process 20,000 wafers. In future, we will add additional lines, which will actually move it to 40,000 wafers or even 80,000 wafers. But the first lines that we are putting, it’s at the capacity of 20,000,” Abhinav Ghosh, an HCL executive, said.
The share of expatriate workers is expected to start at 10–20% and reduce to about 5% over time as local talent is trained. The facility is expected to employ around 800 high-tech engineers.
While the facility will initially depend on imported wafers and equipment, it is expected to catalyse a wider ecosystem of suppliers and partners in the region.