The Centre will invest ₹4,500 crore over the next three years to modernize the state-run Semi-Conductor Laboratory (SCL) in Mohali, Electronics and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said at the chips-to-startup program at the facility. The funding will come from the ₹76,000 crore India Semiconductor Mission (ISM 1.0), launched in 2021.
Vaishnaw explained that the investment will allow SCL to scale production 100 times and create new intellectual property. For the expansion, the laboratory requires 25 acres of land, and the Punjab government has been requested to provide it promptly to help modernization efforts.
A 26-acre parcel near SCL has been a potential hurdle. Owned by Punjab, it was identified over a year ago for adding new fabrication lines, but disputes over land and a valuation of ₹700–800 crore have delayed plans. Vaishnaw noted that the allocation from ISM is flexible and will be adjusted based on project progress. Earlier discussions had considered setting aside around ₹10,000 crore for SCL modernization.
SCL has invited bids to upgrade its existing 180-nanometer, 8-inch fabrication line. The goal is to replace decades-old equipment and increase the line’s capacity from 700 to 1,500 wafer starts per month (WSPM). Wafers are thin silicon discs used to produce integrated circuits and chips.
Tata Semiconductor and Israel’s Tower Semiconductor have been shortlisted to revamp SCL, though the final bidder is yet to be selected. While 180-nanometer technology is older, it is still used for satellites, defense systems, medical devices, microcontrollers, and power management chips. Modern fabs typically use 12-inch wafers for greater efficiency, but SCL’s 8-inch line remains critical for specialized production.
The modernized SCL will support India’s deep-tech and semiconductor startups, offering pilot production, small-volume fabrication, and early-stage prototyping, helping innovators bring products to market faster and locally. Ashok Chandak, IESA president, said SCL has the potential to become a strategic national asset and should eventually move toward advanced nodes like 65 nm and 28 nm through public-private partnerships.
Since October 2024, SCL has offered end-to-end support—fabrication, testing, and packaging—for chip design startups using 180 nm technology. To date, SCL has received 94 chip designs and delivered 58 to startups and academia. A consortium including CDAC, SCL, and DRDO will also help fulfill strategic sector chip requirements.
The government has approved ten semiconductor projects under ISM 1.0, totaling around ₹1.6 trillion across six states. With India’s semiconductor demand expected to reach $103 billion by 2030, 10–15% of this will rely on technologies using 180 nm nodes, including MEMS, CMOS image sensors, power semiconductors, and analogue/mixed-signal devices.
