A committee of the Maharashtra Cabinet approved a significant investment proposal on Thursday, totaling Rs 83,947 crore ($10 billion) for the Tower-Adani Joint Venture. This venture, a collaboration between Tower Semiconductor and the Adani Group, plans to establish a semiconductor chip manufacturing plant in Taloja, Panvel. The announcement was made by Maharashtra’s Deputy Chief Minister, Devendra Fadnavis, via the social media platform X (formerly Twitter).
The proposed facility, situated in the Navi Mumbai suburbs of Raigad district, will begin with an initial capacity of 40,000 wafer starts per month (WSPM) during its first phase, eventually expanding to an ultimate capacity of 80,000 WSPM. Of the total investment, Rs 58,763 crore will be dedicated to the initial phase, with Rs 25,184 crore allocated for the second phase, according to Fadnavis.
Neither Tower Semiconductor nor the Adani Group has yet released an official statement on the project. While the state-level approval has been granted, the joint application from Tower Semiconductor and the Adani Group is still under review by the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) and the IT Ministry, as report.
If approved, this facility would become India’s second chip manufacturing plant and the sixth semiconductor facility in the country, focusing on chip manufacturing, testing, or packaging. Earlier this week, the Union Cabinet also approved a Rs 3,307 crore proposal for an outsourced assembly and testing (OSAT) unit by Kaynes Semicon, a Mysore-based company, which will be established in Sanand, Gujarat, with a daily production capacity of 6.3 million chips.
India currently has five government-approved semiconductor projects, including a chip fabrication unit under construction in Dholera, Gujarat, as well as four chip packaging facilities—three in Sanand, Gujarat, and one in Morigaon, Assam. The total proposed investment for these facilities amounts to Rs 1.5 trillion. The Dholera chip fabrication unit is a joint venture between Tata Group and Taiwan’s Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation, with a capacity of 50,000 WSPM.
Deal Awaiting Central Approval
Senior central government officials have indicated that the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) has not yet granted approval for the semiconductor unit proposed by Tower Semiconductor and the Adani Group. The duo has applied for a subsidy under the Centre’s Rs 76,000 crore India Semiconductor Mission.
“We have not yet approved their application,” a senior government official, who requested anonymity, stated. “The application is currently under review.” The Indian Express first reported in February that Tower Semiconductor, based in Israel, had submitted a new application to establish a chip fabrication plant in India, valued between $8 billion and $10 billion. Tower had previously applied for central subsidy but withdrew the request due to a pending merger with Intel.
The process for securing central subsidy under the India Semiconductor Mission involves submitting an application detailing the intent to set up a chip plant, including information on technologies and node sizes. A technical committee at the Centre evaluates the application based on financial and technological criteria. After the committee’s review, the proposal requires approval from the Union Cabinet.
The five semiconductor projects that have received Centre approval so far—one fabrication plant and four assembly and testing facilities—have all followed this procedure.
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