Silicon Carbide Semiconductor Plant to invest Rs 618 Cr to Boost Tech Edge

RIR Power Electronics is establishing a Rs 618 crore silicon carbide (SiC) semiconductor manufacturing facility in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, which further solidifies India's high-power electronics ecosystem.

Perry Schugart, Chief Marketing Officer of Schugart, explained that the Odisha government will provide support for the project by contributing to half of the investment, with the factory being developed in two phases on six acres of land provided by the state.

Phase one commences this month, and the focus will be on epitaxial wafer growth using SiC wafers supplied by others. Phase two, which is to be accomplished by December 2027, will establish a full wafer fab capable of manufacturing high voltage MOSFETs, IGBTs and diodes.

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Schugart explained silicon carbide is the future of power electronics because its wideband gap properties provide a means of much faster switching, improved energy efficiency, and less heat generation than silicon.

The technology is evolving in three waves, he stated: firstly, the use of SiC chips in conventional packaging; secondly, an advanced packaging approach in order to optimize thermal management; and now, development for high voltage applications above 3.3 kV and scalable to 20,000 volts, based upon the premise that silicon cannot.

These developments fit within the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology's focus on India Semiconductor Mission 2.0, which prioritizes the strategic objective of SiC wafer manufacturing. Bhubaneswar is already gaining traction in that regard, with SicSem Private Limited of Chennai and Clas-SiC Wafer Fab of Scotland committing ₹2,066 crore towards the country's first commercial compound semiconductor fab - planned to produce 60,000 wafers per year and package up to 96 million chips.