Sanand: One of India’s first end-to-end Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT) pilot line facilities was inaugurated in Sanand, Gujarat on Thursday, marking a major milestone in the country’s semiconductor mission. The project has been set up by CG Power with support from the central and state governments.

Electronics and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, who inaugurated the facility along with Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, said the launch represents a decisive step in building domestic capacity in semiconductor design, manufacturing, and downstream processes.

He said the OSAT pilot line will produce chips for customer qualification, making it easier for commercial plants to begin large-scale production once approvals are secured. “By 2032, the world is projected to face a shortage of one million semiconductor professionals, and India has the opportunity to bridge a significant part of this gap,” Vaishnaw said.

The minister highlighted that the government has partnered with 270 universities to provide advanced semiconductor design tools. These tools were used over 1.2 crore times in 2025, resulting in 20 chips designed by 17 institutions being successfully fabricated at the Semi-Conductor Laboratory in Mohali. “Very few countries in the world provide students with access to such advanced tools,” Vaishnaw said, adding that the initiative would strengthen the technical ecosystem and prepare India’s youth for global opportunities.

Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel said the state is positioning itself as a leader in semiconductor design and manufacturing, with the Sanand facility playing a key role.

The CG Semi plant in Sanand will provide end-to-end services in assembly, packaging, testing, and post-test processes. The company is investing ₹7,600 crore over five years to develop two facilities, G1 and G2.

The G1 facility, inaugurated on Thursday, has a peak capacity of 0.5 million units per day and is equipped with advanced automation systems, in-house labs for reliability testing, and certification processes underway. Commercial production is expected in 2026. The G2 facility, under construction, will scale capacity to 14.5 million units per day by late 2026. Together, the plants are projected to create more than 5,000 jobs.

CG Power Chairman Vellayan Subbiah said, “This facility represents more than a milestone for me or for CG Semi; it is a national milestone. It shows how the Government and Industry can come together with conviction, capital, and scale to achieve the vision set by our Honourable Prime Minister. Every chip we make here is a step toward India’s technological sovereignty.”

To prepare its workforce, CG Semi has sent Indian engineers and technicians for training in Malaysia to speed up readiness for high-volume operations.

CG Semi is a joint venture between CG Power and Industrial Solutions Ltd. of the Murugappa Group, Renesas Electronics Corporation, and Stars Microelectronics of Thailand. The company will supply semiconductor solutions across automotive, defence, infrastructure, and IoT sectors.

BI Bureau