Tata Group to Manufacture Semiconductors After 5G Equipment

Tata Group is looking to make a foray into semiconductor manufacturing, Chairman N Chandrasekaran said on Monday. Pegging the market opportunity of high-tech manufacturing of electronics at US$1 trillion, Chandrasekaran said Tata Group has already set up a business to seize the opportunity.

Tata Group Looking to Expand its Horizons

The group has undertaken a number of acquisitions and announced entry into making 5G equipment earlier. As such, his remarks represent Tata Group's determination to build its Tata Digital business.

Notably, India does not have any semiconductor manufacturing facility. Usually, these require high investments, thus the lack of facilities. Chandrasekaran explained the company's move to silicon manufacturing; global supply chain changes in the aftermath of the pandemic, will make businesses shift their reliance on other countries. He then called this a huge opportunity for India, which will become the second base. "At the Tata Group, we have already pivoted into a number of new businesses like electronics manufacturing, 5G network equipment as well as semiconductors, in all probability", he said.

He added, "on rebalancing supply chains, India can significantly benefit from the geopolitical shifts that we are seeing. At the group, we have already set up a business to seize the promise of high-tech manufacturing of electronics, precision manufacturing, assembly and testing and semiconductors in the medium term".

Chandrasekaran said when it comes to environmental sustainability, businesses need to have "time-bound goals, not vague and distant targets". He further added that it is critical to invest in research and development in future growth sectors. These include renewable energy which is likely to see 20 new sources of power emerging in the next two decades.

"Given where India is in our development curve, we have an opportunity to address our jobs challenge through a leapfrog to a green economy, through solar installation, microgrids, sustainable cooling, and better waste management. At the Tata Group, we are looking at all of these sectors," he said.

Generating Huge Job Opportunities

Chandrasekaran said that businesses need to adopt AI, cloud and data more aggressively. He added that Tata Group considers the same as a top priority. He said that by solving problem using technologies, Tata seeks to create job opportunities. Chandrasekaran expects the group to deliver 30 million new jobs. He said with hybrid working possibilities, a large share of the 120 million women educated till the secondary school can get jobs; according to him, this alone can add $440 billion to the GDP.