Japanese multinational Mitsubishi Electric Corporation is stepping up its focus on India as a growth market for power semiconductors, betting on rising domestic demand driven by electrification across transport, energy and industry.
The company plans to increase investments in long-term ecosystem development, supplying silicon and silicon carbide-based power devices, along with high-frequency and optical devices that typically cater to specialised applications. It already sells gallium nitride-based power amplifier modules for 5G base stations in low-power use cases.
“These are still niche segments, but they are steadily expanding as electrification deepens,” Hitesh Bhardwaj, business head for semiconductors and devices at Mitsubishi Electric India, told Fe.
Transition to Wide Bandgap
At present, the devices sold in India are manufactured at Mitsubishi Electric’s facilities in Japan and, in limited cases, China, and imported into the country. The Indian arm focuses on market development, customer integration and ecosystem building, rather than local manufacturing.
“Power electronics is still evolving in India and the market is not as mature as China or Europe,” Bhardwaj said, adding that local manufacturing could be considered once volumes and ecosystem readiness improve.
Mitsubishi’s Strategic Roadmap
Power semiconductors currently account for a small share of the overall semiconductor market. Bhardwaj said that while the global semiconductor industry could approach $1 trillion by 2030, power devices would make up about 2–3% of that total.
Mitsubishi Electric is not availing semiconductor-specific government incentives in India, though it is seeking state-level incentives for its factory automation plant in Pune and an upcoming manufacturing facility in Chennai under the PLI scheme. The Chennai plant will primarily produce air conditioners and compressors.
The company has operated in India’s power electronics market for over two decades, supplying devices for railways, renewable energy, industrial automation and consumer electronics. Its high-voltage IGBT and silicon carbide modules are used in traction inverters for Indian Railways’ electric locomotives.
“The future is clearly moving towards SiC and GaN,” Bhardwaj said. “They allow higher switching frequencies, better current handling and system-level miniaturisation.”