Foxconn’s exit has no impact on India’s chip dream, MoS IT

Taiwanese company Foxconn has withdrawn from its chip joint venture with Vedanta, but India’s semiconductor fabrication goals will not be affected, says MoS IT.

Following the withdrawal of Taiwanese electronic contract manufacturer Foxconn from its chip joint venture with Vedanta on Monday, Union Minister of State for Electronics & Technology said that India’s semiconductor fabrication goals will remain unscathed by the company’s departure.

“This decision of Foxconn to withdraw from its JV with Vedanta has no impact on India’s Semiconductor fab goals. None,” MoS Rajeev Chandrasekhar tweeted.

Foxconn, the world’s largest contract electronics maker, has decided to withdraw from a ₹1.5 lakh crore semiconductor joint venture with Indian metals-to-oil conglomerate Vedanta. The companies had signed a pact last year to set up semiconductor and display production plants in Gujarat.

Vedanta and Foxconn will work independently: Chandrasekhar
“It’s not for govt to get into why or how two private companies choose to partner or choose not to,” MoS Chandrasekhar said, adding that both the companies have significant investments in India and will now pursue their strategies independently.

Initially, the joint venture Vedanta-Foxconn Semiconductors (VFSL) had put forward a proposal for a 28nm fab, but they faced challenges in finding a suitable technology partner for that proposal. However, Vedanta, through VFSL, has recently submitted a proposal for a 40nm fab, which is supported by a tech licensing agreement with a prominent global semiconductor company. This proposal is currently under evaluation by the Tech Advisory group at Semicon India, the nodal agency to implement the Semicon India programme. HindustanTimes