The Indian government has approved a proposal by HCL Group and Foxconn to set up a semiconductor manufacturing facility in Uttar Pradesh, which will focus on wafer-level packaging (WLP), a more advanced and value-added form of chip assembly. This move marks a significant milestone in India’s semiconductor ambitions, as it brings the country closer to global technology standards. The facility will package display driver chips used in mobile phones, laptops, and cars, with a projected capacity of 20,000 wafers per month and employment generation for over 3,500 people.
WLP is a more advanced approach to chip packaging, which offers better precision, fewer chances of damage, and a more compact final product. It is a cleaner, faster, and more efficient way to package chips, and is expected to become even more important as the industry moves towards more advanced semiconductor technologies. The approach also brings down the cost per package, increases throughput for faster time-to-market, and delivers higher yield and reliability with lower equipment cost of ownership.
The sudden rise in advanced packaging, including WLP, is due to the slowing down of Moore’s Law, which has led to a shift in focus from transistor miniaturization to innovation in chip packaging and architecture. Global leaders such as Infineon, STMicroelectronics, Intel, and TSMC have already invested billions into advanced packaging technologies and have built significant WLP capacities.
India’s entry into the world of advanced chip packaging is a significant milestone, as it requires cleanroom environments, precision tooling, and highly skilled engineering talent. The country’s semiconductor strategy has primarily focused on ATMP units and mature-node fabs, but WLP sits higher on the value chain. The recent approval of the HCL-Foxconn WLP project is seen as a significant step towards building advanced packaging capabilities, which are crucial for supporting next-generation chip designs.
The global race for advanced packaging is intense, with countries such as Taiwan, South Korea, and the US leading the way. Taiwan has built world-class capabilities by tightly linking packaging with its foundry ecosystem, while South Korea has focused heavily on advanced packaging for mobile and high-performance memory. The US has companies such as Intel and Amkor leading in this space, with Intel’s packaging platforms like Foveros and EMIB being critical to how they design future processors.
India is entering the semiconductor race several decades behind these established players, but can learn from their models and build its own capabilities through consistent R&D investment, skilled talent pipelines, close government-industry coordination, and a sharp focus on manufacturing infrastructure. The government has provided a ₹76,000 crore incentive, but may need to provide more subsidy support for bringing advanced packaging sites to the country, including subsidy support for required materials, equipment ecosystem, and talent requirements.
Overall, the approval of the HCL-Foxconn WLP project is a significant step towards establishing a credible footprint in strategic sectors such as automotive, communications, and consumer electronics, where the need for trusted, high-quality packaging capacity continues to grow. If India can overcome initial challenges and successfully operationalize advanced ATMP facilities with wafer-level packaging capabilities, it would mark a pivotal step towards building a robust semiconductor ecosystem.