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Centre to infuse ₹4.5K-cr in SCL Mohali
The Indian government will invest ₹4,500 crore to modernize the Semi-Conductor Laboratory in Mohali, enhancing production and supporting startups in chip design
The government will invest ₹4,500 crore over the next three years to modernise the Semi-Conductor Laboratory (SCL) in Mohali and scale up its production a hundredfold, minister for IT and electronics Ashwini Vaishnaw announced on Friday, making it clear the facility will remain in government hands.
The investment, earmarked from ₹76,000 crore allocated to India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) 1.0 in 2021, will transform SCL into a national tape-out facility where students, researchers and startups can send their chip designs for manufacturing—a service commercial foundries are unlikely to provide.
“Very few universities in the world have semiconductor design capabilities with industry-grade modern tools. In India, students across 298 universities, including undergrads, master’s students, PhD scholars and research fellows, are using the world’s latest Electronic Design Automation tools to design chips,” Vaishnaw said in Mohali.
SCL is described by the government as the only facility in India that can handle the complete chip-making process—from designing and fabricating to assembling, packaging, testing and reliability checks. It currently produces custom chips, optical components and micro-mechanical devices on two fabrication lines.
One of the lines, called the 6-inch MEMS line, operational for 30 years, will be removed as part of the modernisation, said Manoj Wadhwa, group head of the project planning group at SCL. The facility will be upgraded to build capabilities from 28nm to 180 nm, focusing on mature-node technologies for robotics and electronics.
Vaishnaw outlined Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s five-point roadmap for SCL’s future. The first step is modernising the facility and scaling up production. The second involves a “substantial change in technology” by upgrading SCL’s outdated manufacturing processes to more modern nodes and tools.
The third step is establishing SCL as a national tape-out facility—the final stage of chip design before manufacturing—for students, researchers and startups. “Commercial foundries are unlikely to take up tape-outs for student chips, making it essential for SCL to stay in government hands so that it gives way to new startups, creates new IPs (intellectual property) and talent,” Vaishnaw said.
The fourth step focuses on expansion, with the ministry requesting 25 acres from the Punjab government. “The sooner they give the land, the faster will be the modernisation and expansion of SCL,” the minister said.
The final step addresses strategic self-reliance. “Very important for the strategic sector that we become atmanirbhar (self-reliant) and use swadeshi (home-made) chips. For this, we will make a consortium in which Centre for Development of Advanced Computing, SCL, Defence Research and Development Organisation, among other organisations, so that the strategic requirements can be fulfilled in our nation,” Vaishnaw said.
Under ISM, the target was to train 85,000 engineers in 10 years, but over 60,000 students have already been trained in just three years, he said. “We already have 10 plants under construction, two plants have started pilot production, and by March two more plants will start production.” The Kaynes and CG-Semi semiconductor plants in Gujarat have begun pilot production.
The ministry has also begun internal work on Semicon 2.0, the next phase of India’s semiconductor programme, holding discussions with various ministries to shape its final design.
The funds allocated to SCL are fungible within the ISM 1.0 budget, Vaishnaw noted.
SCL Mohali was established in 1976 with the vision of creating India’s first indigenous chip fabrication unit. The company started as a government enterprise, Semiconductor Complex Limited, bought technology from AMI in the US and began fabrication in 1983. “At that time, we were at par with the world,” Wadhwa said.
But a devastating fire in 1989 tore through the plant, destroying the entire fabrication and packaging facility. “This set us back significantly. Our new packaging facility was ready by 1991, and wafer fabrication followed in 1995,” said Wadhwa. The cause of the fire remains inconclusive to date but was probably a result of short-circuiting, he added.
By the time the plant was operational again, the world had moved on to more advanced technologies. Meanwhile, SCL began developing in-house technologies, starting with 5-micron processes and achieving 2-micron fabrication by 1995. The facility later upgraded to 180-nanometre nodes in 2011-12.
SCL took its current form in 2006 when it was placed under the department of space to focus on strategic sectors. In February 2022, it was brought under Meity. “This was India’s first semiconductor plant back in the 1980s,” Wadhwa said.
