India To Get First National Security Semiconductor Fabrication Plant

India will receive a national security semiconductor fabrication plant from the United States as part of a transformative partnership. This facility will manufacture chips for military hardware and next-generation telecommunications.

The India-US joint project was announced on Saturday following discussions between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden in Wilmington.

Modi and Biden “hailed” the semiconductor project as a “watershed arrangement” in a joint fact sheet on their discussions.

It will be the inaugural semiconductor fabrication partnership between India and the United States.
The US military has never before entered into a partnership with India for these highly valuable technologies. This is a watershed moment, as it is as significant as the civil nuclear deal, according to individuals with knowledge of the matter.

“President Biden and Prime Minister Modi hailed a watershed arrangement to establish a new semiconductor fabrication plant focused on advanced sensing, communication, and power electronics for national security, next-generation telecommunications, and green energy applications,” according to the fact sheet.

The report indicated that the “fab, which will be established with the objective of manufacturing infrared, gallium nitride and silicon carbide semiconductors, will be enabled by support from the India semiconductor mission as well as a strategic technology partnership between Bharat Semi, 3rdiTech, and the US Space Force.”

The individuals cited above stated that the Fab will not only be the first of its kind in India, but also one of the first multi-material fabs in the world for national security.

The fact sheet stated that Modi and Biden commended the combined efforts to facilitate resilient, secure, and sustainable semiconductor supply chains, which included the establishment of the GF Kolkata Power Centre in Kolkata by GlobalFoundries (GF).

It was stated that the project would strengthen mutually beneficial relationships in the field of chip manufacturing research and development.

“The leaders welcomed steps our industry is taking to build safe, secure, and resilient supply chains for US, Indian, and international automotive markets, including through Ford Motor Company’s submission of a Letter of Intent to utilise its Chennai plant to manufacture for export to global markets,” according to the document.
Modi and Biden were said to have commended the ongoing efforts to establish more extensive cooperation in the field of 5G deployment and next-generation telecommunications.

This encompasses the US Agency for International Development’s intention to develop the Asia Open RAN Academy with an initial USD 7 million investment in order to expand this workforce training initiative globally, including in South Asia with Indian institutions.