Tata Electronics New Fab Plant to Provide Prototyping Hub for Indian Startups

Tata Electronics’ upcoming semiconductor fabrication facility in Dholera is expected to allow Indian chip startups to conduct prototype tape-outs domestically at 28-90 nanometre (nm) nodes. Tape-out is the stage when a final chip design is sent to a fabrication plant to produce initial physical samples for testing and validation, as per news reports.  

At present, several Indian startups rely on overseas fabs such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company and GlobalFoundries, which increases costs and limits access to on-site testing and failure analysis. 

Fit With Existing Domestic Infrastructure 

The Dholera facility is expected to operate alongside the SCL Mohali plant, which currently supports tape-outs at 180 nm. The government has announced a ₹4,500 crore programme to modernise SCL over three years.  

The 2 facilities together could address roughly 75–80% of commonly manufactured chips within the next two to three years. 

Startup Pipeline and Funding Context 

Under the Design Linked Incentive (DLI) scheme, 24 chip-design firms have been selected, with 14 startups raising around ₹430 crore from venture investors.  

Venture capital funding for Indian semiconductor startups was about $50 million in 2025, showing early-stage activity amid long development cycles and high capital requirements.  

The scheme provides subsidies of up to ₹15 crore per startup and deployment-linked incentives of 4-6% of net sales, capped at ₹30 crore per application, though no firm has reached the commercial deployment stage so far. 

Prototype Manufacturing Methods and Costs 

Academic institutions and early-stage firms often use multi-project wafers (MPWs), where multiple designs share a single wafer to reduce prototype costs. Some startups continue to conduct tape-outs overseas with DLI-linked incentives.  

Industry participants have said domestic tape-out pricing will need to remain comparable with global benchmarks for broader uptake. 

Long-Term Semiconductor Roadmap 

The government has outlined a target to achieve domestic manufacturing of 3 nm chips by 2032, with plans to move to 2 nm nodes thereafter.  

Future phases of the DLI scheme will focus on compute, radio frequency, networking, power, sensor and memory chips, with a target of 50 fabless startups. 

Read More: Tata Consumer Products Crosses ₹5,000 Crore Quarterly Revenue as Management Signals Strong Growth! 

Conclusion 

The facility is expected to reduce reliance on overseas fabs for prototype chips and support companies under the DLI scheme. It will complement existing and planned upgrades at the SCL Mohali facility. 

Disclaimer: This blog has been written exclusively for educational purposes. The securities mentioned are only examples and not recommendations. This does not constitute a personal recommendation/investment advice. It does not aim to influence any individual or entity to make investment decisions. Recipients should conduct their own research and assessments to form an independent opinion about investment decisions.   
 
Investments in the securities market are subject to market risks, read all the related documents carefully before investing.