Gujarat CM welcomes Japan's Iwate Vice Governor, JICA delegation; focus on semiconductor ecosystem

Gandhinagar, Sep 5 (IANS) Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel on Friday welcomed a delegation led by Yutaka Sasaki, Vice Governor of Japan’s Iwate Prefecture, along with representatives of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

The delegation, in India to attend Semicon India 2025 in New Delhi, also toured semiconductor industries operating in Dholera Special Investment Region (SIR).

During their meeting in Gandhinagar, the Japanese team expressed appreciation for the Gujarat government’s support for Japanese firms and praised the state’s rapidly expanding semiconductor sector.

CM Patel highlighted that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership, India-Japan bilateral ties are deepening, and Gujarat is poised to attract more Japanese investment in the semiconductor space.

Patel underlined that Gujarat already hosts four semiconductor plants and is advancing with a clear commitment to becoming India’s semiconductor hub. He called for long-term cooperation with Iwate Prefecture in areas such as technical assistance, skill development through practical training, and joint R&D for high-quality products.

Senior state officials, including Additional Chief Secretary M.K. Das, Finance Secretary T. Natarajan, and Science & Technology Secretary P. Bharti, were also present during the discussions.

Gujarat’s semiconductor ecosystem is rapidly evolving into a high-impact cluster, driven by major investments, infrastructure development, and strategic policy support.

Under the Gujarat Semiconductor Policy 2022-2027, the state has secured over Rs 1.25 lakh crore in commitments from key players, including Tata Electronics, Micron Technology, CG Power, and Kaynes Semicon.

The crown jewel, the Tata Electronics-led semiconductor fabrication plant in Dholera, is backed by Rs 91,000 crore in investment, with the first chips expected by December 2026.

Meanwhile, Micron’s ATMP facility in Sanand (part of its assembly, testing, marking, and packaging operations) is scheduled for operational readiness by late 2024, and has already entered the cleanroom validation stage.

Kaynes Semicon’s OSAT unit in Sanand, with an outlay of Rs 3,300 crore, is slated to commence pilot production mid-2025 and full-scale manufacturing by early 2026.

Complementing manufacturing, infrastructure development includes Micron’s phased cleanroom rollout targeting late 2024, and global tech partnerships through Jabil’s Rs 1,000 crore initiative into silicon photonics.

The state also plans to deepen its ecosystem with NextGen’s proposed Rs 10,000 crore compound semiconductor fab in Dholera, backed by collaborations with Japanese and Taiwanese firms.

--IANS

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