HCL inching close to chip unit in Karnataka, investment estimated at $400 million
HCL Group is moving closer to setting up an Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT) facility — also termed as a chip packaging unit — in Karnataka, multiple people aware of the developments told ET.
The facility will be «small-to-medium sized» with an estimated investment of about $400 million, they added. The group — best known for its $12.6 billion IT arm HCLTech — is in active talks with the state government, which has offered land both near the international airport in Bengaluru as well as in Mysuru.
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Officials in the know said Mysuru would be ideal for fab manufacturing and for an OSAT in view of availability of water in the riparian district.
The state government has also worked out an incentive structure for the facility, which will mark a return to technology hardware for the HCL Group, considered one of the pioneers of IT manufacturing in India.
«The government is open to more discussions on incentives also if the investor wants some tweaks,» said one of the officials cited above.
If the discussions prove successful, HCL will join the ranks of Micron, Tata Group, Murugappa Group and Kaynes Technology, which have all recently entered the chip OSAT and ATMP space.
“HCL Group receives and evaluates investment opportunities from time to time. We report these at the appropriate time based on meaningful progress," an HCL Group spokesperson said in response to ET's queries.
