Tower Semiconductor headquarters (Wikipedia)
In some much-needed good news for Israel Startup Nation, Israel’s Tower Semiconductor, a leading foundry for analog semiconductor solutions, is in talks to build an $8 billion chip fabrication plant in India. The Indian Express reported that Tower has already submitted the plans for the new plant to the Indian government for its approval.
Tower Semiconductor, according to the report, plans to manufacture 65 nanometer and 40 nanometer chips in India which may be used in a number of sectors, including automotive and wearable electronics.
This news comes as Israeli firms continue to try and do business as usual during the Iron Swords War in Gaza against the terrorist group Hamas. And on Saturday the international credit rating agency Moody’s downgraded Israel’s credit rating from A1 to A2, which means it was rated as upper-medium grade and low credit risk. This could be a big blow to Israel Startup nation’s future fundraising efforts.
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According to the report, the Indian government would provide a 40% capital expenditure subsidy to Tower Semiconductor should the company’s bid be accepted. So, Tower would only need to come up with $4 billion of the money needed.
Tower Semiconductor has been making a number of such international moves recently. Just last month Tower Semiconductor entered into a partnership with Japanese semiconductor manufacturer Renesas Electronics Corporation to manufacture Tower’s SiGe-based beamforming ICs.
And last September, Tower Semiconductor entered into a deal with Intel to cooperate on chip production in New Mexico. The deal came after Intel scrapped plans to acquire Tower.
Intel Foundry Services300mm manufacturing capacity to Tower. Tower Semiconductor will invest up to $300 million to acquire and own equipment and other fixed assets at Intel’s New Mexico facility and will produce chips there. The companies said this will provide a new capacity corridor of over 600,000 photo layers per month for Tower’s future growth.
Founded in 1993, Tower Semiconductor manufactures analog integrated circuits for more than 300 customers worldwide in growing markets such as consumer, automotive, medical, industrial, and aerospace & defense, among others. The company provides advanced specialty technologies including Radio Frequency (RF), High Performance Analog (HPA), integrated Power Management, CMOS Image Sensors, and Mixed-Signal/CMOS as well as Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) capabilities.
