Centre floats tender for upgrade of Mohali chip lab

Decks have been cleared for the upgrade of Mohali-based Semi-Conductor Laboratory (SCL) with the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) floating a global tender for augmentation of its existing fabrication facility.

Officials said the fabrication unit is set to double its manufacturing capacity from around 700 to 1,500 wafers per month. “This will reduce our reliance on import of semiconductors for strategic sectors, including ISRO,” an official said.

The overhaul, according to the official documents, includes sizeable equipment upgrades, replacement and additions in the clean room of the SCL where integrated chips are fixed on to wafers.

Besides hardware upgrade and installation of the manufacturing execution system software, the contractor shall also provide test chip and hands-on training to SCL engineers.

“Our main demand for wafers is from ISRO and strategic sectors. We are studying how can be enter commercial production of semiconductors. Hopefully, the next phase will be of a revamp where metal technology node is set up,” an official said.