Electronics company Sahasra Semiconductors said it expects to be the first to set up a memory chip assembly, testing and packaging unit in India and to start selling locally-made chips by December. Sahasra Semiconductors chairman and managing director Amrit Manwani told PTI that the company plans to invest Rs 750 crore to set up the unit in Bhiwadi, Rajasthan.

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“We will invest Rs 150 crore in the current financial year to build an ATMP facility at the Elcina manufacturing cluster in Bhiwadi, Rajasthan. We expect it to be operational by the end of this year. Once the market is established and our revenue reaches Rs 250-30 crore, we will invest another Rs 6,000 crore. In total, we initially planned to invest Rs 7.5 crore,” Manwani said.

 

He said the company’s first full fiscal year of commercial production is expected to generate around Rs 500 crore, which is expected to grow to Rs 500 crore by 2025-26. Manwani said the company has already invested Rs 600 crore in the current financial year and by March 2023, it will complete the investment of Rs 750 crore. The remaining Rs 750 crore will be invested in 2023-24.

 

The company has invested heavily in purchasing equipment and establishing clean room facilities required for semiconductor packaging. “We expect the first set of equipment to leave Singapore this week and arrive at our factory in mid-August. A lot of equipment will arrive between August and September. We will probably have a trial run in November and we will Commercial production can be achieved by December this year,” Manwani said.

 

Sahasra Semiconductors is one of the companies approved to establish an ATMP division under the Electronic Components and Semiconductor Manufacturing Promotion Scheme of the Production Linked Incentive Scheme.

 

Manwani said the company has been in the business of selling semiconductors after importing them, but has now decided to venture into semiconductor packaging due to growth opportunities in the domestic market due to government policies, the geopolitical situation and security concerns. The Sahasra group used to sell memory products for a Japanese and a US tech company, but after they pulled out of memory products in India, the company started selling products under its own brand, he said.

“The demand for memory products has been identified. We are not only using semiconductors for our exclusive consumption, but also to brands that require it. We have been one of the big players in the memory space. We have been supplying pen drives for the computer space, SD cards and solid-state drives,” Manvani said.

 

He said the total demand for semiconductors is around Rs 7,000-10,000 crore and the company is confident of gaining a 5-7% market share by 2025-26.

 

“There is huge demand for domestic products from OEMs and retail markets. After the dollar volatility, the China-India standoff, the U.S.-China standoff, people are looking for domestic products. People want an alternative source in China. We believe customers will welcome domestic products. memory semiconductors,” Manvani said.

 

He said that for security purposes, locally manufactured memory products will be favored by companies, as memory products are also installed in data servers, high-end industrial PCs, and communications equipment. “Both the government and private organizations want these things to be made locally,” Manwani said.