India-based resources conglomerate Vedanta, looking to build India's first display manufacturing plant, has got South Korean suppliers on board after obtaining support from Japanese and Taiwanese companies.
Mint and The Economic Times reported that when attending a roadshow organized by KOTRA (Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency), Vedanta signed MoUs with 20 South Korean firms to establish an electronics manufacturing hub. AvanStrate, a Japan-based LCD manufacturer Vedanta bought in 2017, will be part of the proposed hub. According to the reports, Avanstrate has manufacturing facilities in Korea and Taiwan. Its Korean site in Pyeongtaek manufactures TFT display glass and develops wafer-lass, ultra-thin glass, next-generation cover glass, and AR/VR glass applications.
Akarsh K Hebbar, global managing director of Vedanta's semiconductor and display business, said in a statement that Vedanta, along with the Indian government, showcased the immense investment opportunities that India has to offer, supported by conducive policies, talents, and a robust innovation ecosystem.
Before bringing Korean partners on board, Vedanta signed MoUs with 30 Japan-based companies at the Vedanta-Avanstrate Business Partners Summit held in Tokyo in December 2022. Furthermore, Taiwan-based Innolux signed an LCD technology transfer agreement with Vedanta in February 2023 to build India's first integrated flat panel display factory, including TFT, color filter, and cell frontplane process, as well as module assembly.
India's government unveiled an INR760 billion (US$92 billion) semiconductor and display fabs incentive scheme, providing up to 50% of the project cost to build a local supply chain. Vedanta has applied for both the wafer fab and display projects, and plans to build the fab units in Gujarat.
Besides the Indian government's effort to build a self-reliant display ecosystem, Samsung Display and China-based CSOT have invested in India to assemble modules and manufacture TV open cells. CSOT celebrated achieving the cumulative production of 100,000 TV open cells in December 2022, WitsDisplay reports.
