As India accelerates its semiconductor manufacturing ambitions under the “Make in India” programme, Gujarat-based Suchi Semicon is preparing to place equipment orders worth around ₹700 crore for its Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT) facility at Surat. Machinery will account for more than 80 per cent of the project cost, with a majority of it set to be sourced from overseas suppliers.Promoted by textile baron Ashok Mehta, the company plans to source most of the equipment from semiconductor manufacturing hubs such as Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and Singapore, underlining the sophisticated and capital-intensive nature of chip manufacturing infrastructure. “Out of the total project cost of ₹868 crore, we will be spending around ₹700 crore on equipment,” Mehta told businessline adding that some machines individually cost between $300,000 to $500,000.The company’s semiconductor project has already received approval under the Centre’s semiconductor incentive programme, with government support pegged at ₹521 crore. The rest of the project cost will be met through internal accruals or by divesting stake in the entity. The Surat-based facility represents a sharp diversification from Mehta’s traditional textile business background. In December 2024, the company inaugurated a pilot semiconductor packaging line and clean room facility, becoming one of the early private-sector entrants attempting to build India’s domestic OSAT ecosystem.Since then, the company has been focusing on process qualification, workforce training and customer onboarding before commencing large-scale expansion. Suchi Semicon has already invested around ₹115 crore in the pilot line and supporting infrastructure, including a 15,000 -sq-ft clean room facility. The company currently operates at a capacity of around 150,000 chips per day, though production is being run in a single shift as engineers undergo training and manufacturing processes are stabilised. “Almost 10 persons from Malaysia and Philippines have trained our workforce,” Mehta said. The company currently employs 97 people.Equipment orders are expected to be placed shortly, with deliveries likely over the next three to six months due to long global supply timelines for semiconductor machinery. “Within six months I think we will get a very good number of equipment in our premises,” Mehta said. The next milestone for the company is to scale production to around 500,000 chips per day.Operations at the Surat facility are currently focused on OSAT activities, where semiconductor wafers supplied by overseas clients are packaged, assembled and tested before being shipped back. The company said it has already sent qualification samples from its test facility to customers in the US, Taiwan, China and Japan. “Companies are giving wafers to us and we are packaging, assembling and testing and giving it back to them,” Mehta said.Suchi Semicon is targeting both consumer electronics and automotive applications. In the automotive segment, the company is working towards securing IATF certification, a key requirement for supplying to auto industry clients. “If you are going for production for the auto industries we need one certificate IATF and that certificate we can get after our production after one year,” Mehta said. The Centre has been aggressively pushing semiconductor manufacturing through incentives and subsidies as India seeks to build local capabilities across chip packaging, testing and fabrication. “In any country to start the semiconductor industry, every country gives support to set up semiconductor industries,” Mehta added.Published on May 18, 2026