US-based Silicon Power Group to invest $121 million in Odisha for silicon carbide plant

US-based Silicon Power Group will invest $121.73 million in Odisha to set up a facility to make 150 millimeter silicon carbide, a semiconductor component. The company has committed to start operations in the next 18 to 24 months, as per a statement by the Chief Minister’s Office. 

As per the statement, the investment will be made by the group’s RiR Power Electronics. 

Silicon carbide is a component that goes into chips used in electric cars and other industrial power and energy applications.

Separately, an Odisha government delegation also met senior leadership of semiconductor companies and VC firms in the USA. They met Yin Chang, SVP of  Advanced Semiconductor Engineering (ASE), one of the largest Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT) providers. 

The CMO said that the delegation pitched the state’s favourable industrial ecosystem and generous incentives on offer under different policies. The company is expected to send a team to Odisha for evaluation. 

The Chief Minister’s Office stated that the deep-tech roundtable attended by the delegation saw participation from 40 leading CEOs and CXOs across IT, venture capital, electronics, semiconductors, robotics, and AI/ML.

The Odisha government delegation, moreover, briefed the attendees on the state’s transformation across sectors as well as its technological advancements. 

Silicon Power’s commitment comes as India aims to become a global semiconductor hub. Top executives from Foxconn and semiconductor firms Micron and AMD are set to attend a conference in Gujarat, an effort by the government to lure investments. India aims to shore up investments to compete with the likes of Taiwan. The local chip market is estimated to be worth $80 billion by 2028, almost four times its $23 billion size now.

(With Reuters inputs)

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