Micron plans Gujarat memory plant

Micron’s 22 June announcement puts two-phase investment at up to US$825 million from the company and US$2.75 billion overall. Central support covers 50% of project cost; Gujarat’s incentives cover 20%. The remaining 30% matches Micron’s ceiling, without establishing ownership or payments.

Historical Micron memory-module detail, photographed on 2 January 2020. © Raimond Spekking / CC BY-SA 4.0 (via Wikimedia Commons). Cropped from a source-provided resized rendition; adapted image licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Historical product detail; not the Gujarat facility or its output.

The DRAM and NAND plant would turn wafers into packages, modules and SSDs. Initial operations are targeted for late 2024, with phase two starting toward the decade’s second half.

The planned work follows wafer fabrication, the stage that produces integrated circuits. By comparison, Intel’s Magdeburg proposal concerns that earlier stage.

Eligibility and payments

The September 2022 Cabinet decision set support for semiconductor fabs at 50% of project cost, while assembly, testing and packaging support uses capital expenditure as its basis.

The 4 October 2022 notification sets a minimum capital investment of ₹50 crore for assembly and packaging applicants. They must either own and operate a commercial packaging unit, or own or license the proposed packaging technologies and show a route to advanced packaging through licensing or development.

The scheme covers 50% of capital expenditure and permits additional state assistance. Its spending categories include buildings, cleanrooms, machinery, equipment and associated utilities, technology transfer, and research and development. Detailed eligibility is left to the scheme guidelines.

Payments follow application approval and run alongside capital expenditure, subject to the scheme, guidelines, approval letter and expenditure threshold. Approval and disbursement are separate steps: the nodal agency examines eligible claims before paying them.

The reviewed records lack Micron’s approval letter and disbursement ledger. The financing announcement and scheme rules can’t establish eligible costs, payment dates or amounts paid.