SCL Mohali to be modernised at cost of 4,500 crore; requests land from Punjab, says Ashwini Vaishnaw

Minister for electronics and information technology Ashwini Vaishnav said in Mohali at the Semiconductor Lab (SCL Mohali) that the facility would be modernised at a cost of ₹4,500 crore in the coming three years. Mr. Vaishnaw made the remarks at an event where teams of students who designed 128 nanometre chips were recognised. 

“I also want to clarify that there is no question of privatising SCL,” Mr. Vaishnaw said. “We want production at SCL to increase hundredfold.” 

SCL Mohali comes under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, and fabricates chips that are used in the strategic projects like in military and space exploration. The facility fabricates so-called legacy node chips, which use lithography techniques that are typically less miniaturised than cutting-edge “frontier” chips, found in newer consumer electronics. More recently, SCL has been working on “taping out” chips designed by Indian students, as a part of the Chips 2 Startups (C2S) programme. 

The modernisation push for the laboratory would allow the facility to upgrade its aging equipment. For a period after its inception in the 20th century, SCL was among the most technologically advanced semiconductor facilities in the world; that status ended with a fire in 1989 from which it never recovered, even as countries like Taiwan and Japan pulled ahead. 

A sum of ₹10,000 crore was allocated for SCL’s modernisation in 2023 as a part of the India Semiconductor Mission; the amount announced on Friday is the first announced investment from that allocated amount. Mr. Vaishnaw said that the precise figure would be “fungible,” indicating that more or less could be spent depending on circumstances. 

Punjab land

Mr. Vaishnaw said that as a part of SCL Mohali’s modernisation push, it required 25 acres of land. “We have made a request to the Punjab State government, and I am requesting again that this land be made available for the purpose of SCL’s modernisation,” Mr. Vaishnaw said.

An SCL official said that around one-third of the parcel was occupied by a BSNL office, with unutilised land comprising the rest of the parcel. The office could be retained while keeping the land. 

(The author was in Mohali at the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology’s invitation.)