SiCSem, a subsidiary of Archean Chemical Industries, will build India's first commercial silicon carbide semiconductor fab in Odisha's Info Valley, backed by a government-approved investment of about $2.47 billion. The plant, developed with UK-based Clas-SiC Wafer Fab under a technology-licensing and foundry-capacity arrangement, will produce 60,000 SiC wafers annually with packaging capacity for 96 million units, targeting EVs, defense, railways, solar inverters and data center power systems.
Semicon Hunt -> manufacturing -> SiCSem
2026-06-11
SiCSem Pvt. Ltd., a subsidiary of Archean Chemical Industries, has been cleared by India's Union Cabinet to build the country's first commercial silicon carbide (SiC) compound semiconductor fab, integrated with an assembly, test, marking and packaging (ATMP) unit, at Info Valley in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. The government has approved an investment of about $2.47 billion for the project, one of four new manufacturing units cleared under the India Semiconductor Mission alongside projects in Punjab and Andhra Pradesh.
SiCSem's fab will be developed in partnership with UK-based Clas-SiC Wafer Fab Ltd., which has run a similar licensing arrangement with a silicon diode manufacturer in Nanjing, China. Clas-SiC CEO Jennifer Walls described the India deal as a natural extension of the company's foundry model, though with key differences. 'This will not be an open foundry,' she said. 'SiCSem will design and manufacture its own devices and modules.'
While the Odisha fab is under construction, SiCSem's devices will be produced at Clas-SiC's facility in Scotland, giving the company roughly two years to sample the market and secure customers ahead of local production. Under the license agreement, Clas-SiC will retain 15 to 20 percent of the new Indian fab's capacity for its own customers, plus royalty payments over the following 17 years. The arrangement also includes workforce training, with SiCSem engineers expected to learn Clas-SiC's processes before the fab is operational, mirroring the technology-transfer model used in China.
The integrated fab and ATMP facility is designed for an annual output of 60,000 SiC wafers and packaging capacity for 96 million units. Target end markets include electric vehicles, defense, railways, fast chargers, solar inverters and data center power racks. Alongside the manufacturing investment, IIT Bhubaneswar will invest about $53.8 million to establish a dedicated SiC research and development lab next to the SiCSem unit, aimed at building a local talent and innovation pipeline around compound semiconductors.
VLSI Society of India president Satya Gupta, who advised on Odisha's semiconductor policy, noted that the state raised its compound semiconductor fab subsidy from 30 to 50 percent and pre-cleared environmental approvals and land in Info Valley, while committing to lower power tariffs and the large volumes of ultra-pure water SiC fabs require. 'SiCSem will produce silicon carbide, which is the need of the hour for EVs and power electronics,' Gupta said, calling the Odisha projects technically distinct from other ISM-backed plants.
SiCSem's fab brings the total number of ISM-backed projects to 10, representing about $19.15 billion in cumulative investment across six Indian states. For Clas-SiC, the deal offers a low-cost route to higher volumes without new capital expenditure, while for SiCSem and Archean Chemical Industries, it marks an entry into compound semiconductor manufacturing aligned with India's push for self-reliance in power electronics supply chains.
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