Tata Electronics and ASML have announced a strategic partnership to build India's first semiconductor fabrication plant in Dholera, Gujarat. The project marks the most serious attempt yet for India, which currently imports nearly all of its chips.
The 300mm facility will produce 50,000 wafers per month, focusing on analog and logic chips using 28nm to 110nm process technology. The technology is developed with Taiwan's Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (PSMC), but ASML's role is critical: every modern fab requires ASML's lithography machines, which use light to etch circuits onto silicon.
Total investment is projected at ₹91,000 crore (~$11 billion). The central government covers 50%, Gujarat state adds 20%, leaving Tata to fund the remaining 30%.
ASML, based in Veldhoven, Netherlands, is the sole manufacturer of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines and the dominant supplier of deep ultraviolet (DUV) systems used at 28nm and above. For Dholera, DUV is the relevant technology-a sign the facility is being built to genuine industry standards.