Israel’s Tower Semiconductor Ltd is proposing a US$9 billion plant, while India’s Tata Group has put forward an US$8 billion chip fabrication unit, people familiar with the matter said. Although Tower’s sales are a fraction of giants Intel and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電), it makes components for large customers such as Broadcom Inc and serves fast-growing sectors like electric vehicles. The US$150 billion Tata group has previously said it plans to begin construction of a chip fabrication plant in Dholera this year. Tata operates India’s biggest smartphone component plant, constructed at a cost of more than US$700 million, in southern India. To qualify for state subsidies, any chip project would have to make detailed disclosures including whether it has binding agreements with a technology partner for production.
