Zoho co-founder Sridhar Vembu has dropped his ambitious semiconductor fab investment plan stating it was too capital-intensive and did not have the confidence in the tech.
The company - Silectric Semiconductor Manufacturing Pvt Ltd - formed by the directors of Zoho in March 2024, had plans to establish a silicone carbide manufacturing unit in Khurdha district in Odisha at a cost of ₹3,034 crore. Vembu also had plans to set up a chip manufacturing plant in Karnataka costing $400 million.
On Tuesday, Vembu, in a social media post, said, “On our semiconductor fab investment plan, since this business is so capital intensive it requires government backing, we wanted to be absolutely sure of the technology path before we take taxpayer money. We did not have that confidence in the tech so our board decided to shelve this idea for the time being, until we find a better tech approach.”
Silectric has four directors/key management personnel Navneethan Jai Anand, Radha Vembu, Dandapani Rajendran and Krishnan Ramabadran. These are also directors of Zoho.
As per Zoho’s proposal, Silectric had plans to establish a silicon carbide manufacturing value chain from silicone carbide ingots to wafers to mosfets to modules to modified assembly, marking and packaging facility. The fabrication line will have both captive as well as foundry services model. The unit’s annual capacity will be EPI wafers - 72,000; mosfets (72,000) and modules (72,000). The company has submitted an application to MeiTY under the Indian Semiconductor Mission. End products will be used as power electronics in segments such as EVs, automotive and renewable energy.
However, Vembu on the news then said, “Regarding the semiconductor fab news, we are not ready to announce anything yet. All I can say right now is that this technology is vital for our nation and we need companies to step up and make the investment. The government is very supportive and now is the time.”