NXP is urging TSMC, Globalfoundries to set up in India

Business news | April 3, 2023

By Peter Clarke

NXP Semiconductors, is in discussions with foundry partners, such as TSMC and Globalfoundries, about setting up chip manufacturing in India, according to the Economic Times.

The newspaper conducted an interview with CEO Kurt Sievers on the occasion of Sievers meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“We believe in the geopolitical context, currently India should be a very neutral and democratic place to have global manufacturing,” the Economic Times quoted Sievers saying. He added: “We have (already started) discussions (with partners) as we speak. (They are) very open. It has as much to do with the attractiveness of India as much as with the geopolitical situation. I will be very vocal and supportive to our manufacturing partners to strongly consider India.”

NXP, which operates mostly as a fabless chip company, is expanding its R&D and chip design in India with facilities in Noida, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Pune with around 4,000 engineers in all.

Strong product manufacturing in the areas of automotive, industrial and healthcare in India can serve as an impetus to bring chipmaking to the country.

For many years India has failed to attract inward investors to set up wafer fabs in the sub-continent. However, the latest incentive plan from the national government (see Report: India plans $10 billion semiconductor subsidy) has coincided with concerns about reliance on Taiwan as a source of semiconductors.

While there have been proposals for wafer fabs with the involvement of Foxconn and Tower Semiconductor there is, as yet, very little chip manufacturing in India (see MEMS startup is part of Indian entry into chipmaking). It is notable that a former NXP executive has been appointed to the Foxconn-Vedanta semiconductor consortium (see ST linked to Indian fab project as former NXP exec appointed).