Foxconn’s withdrawal will have no impact on India's Semiconductor goals: Govt

Following the pulling out of Taiwanese electronic contract manufacturer Foxconn from its chip joint venture with Vedanta, Union Minister of State for Electronics & Technology said that India's semiconductor fabrication goals will remain unaffected 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. 

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

Initially, 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.  

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. 

The deal had created a massive political controversy with opposition parties in Maharashtra crying foul over the deal saying that Maharashtra was the priority of the investors. 

However, in response to the criticism, MoS Chandrasekhar countered by saying, "To those editorialising about this decision of Foxconn/Vedanta being a "blow" to India's Semicon ambition, I can only say it's a bad idea to bet against India under PM Modi. India is just getting started…"