(Bloomberg) — India’s Tata Group is planning a foray into semiconductor manufacturing as the coffee-to-cars conglomerate seeks to mitigate the pain from the global chip crisis as well as reduce dependence on imports.
Besides making chips, plans to manufacture batteries for electric vehicles will also be announced soon, N. Chandrasekaran, chairman of Tata Sons Pvt., the group’s main holding company, said at an event in Mumbai Friday. Chandrasekaran had spoken about evaluating partnerships for cell and battery manufacturing in India and Europe in Tata Motors Ltd.’s annual report in June.
The initiatives by the $103 billion Tata Group are aligned to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s attempts to make India a leader in semiconductor production and reduce its reliance on imports amid global chain disruptions. Besides Tata, several international chip giants including Intel Corp. and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. are exploring India as a potential manufacturing base.
India Chip Consumption Should Surpass $110B by 2030: Modi
Automakers around the globe are grappling with a semiconductor shortage, exacerbated by pandemic lockdowns in China, which have hobbled the automobile and the electronics sector by raising input costs for makers.
Hard Time
Volvo Car AB has said it would have a hard time meeting its production forecast for this year due to issues procuring a specific type of semiconductor, while Renault SA earlier this month halted production of its new electric vehicle because of a lack of components.
Tata’s foray in semiconductor making will also help its group firm, Tata Motors, which makes the iconic Jaguar Land Rover brands and has suffered due to these shortages.
Tata Motors, which has 70% share in India’s nascent electric-car market, also announced plans to launch its first-ever pure electric car by 2025. The five-seater Avinya will have no gasoline variants, Shailesh Chandra, managing director at Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles told reporters in a briefing Friday.
Tata Motors currently sells two battery-powered models, the Nexon EV and Tigor EV, but these cars also have variants that run on fossil fuels.
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