JBIC Reviews Progress At Dholera, India’s Emerging Semicon City

Nobumitsu Hayashi, Governor of the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), visited the Dholera Special Investment Region (Dholera SIR) in Gujarat, India, to assess progress on the country’s most ambitious greenfield smart industrial city, which is rapidly emerging as India’s first Semicon City. The delegation’s visit underscored the growing momentum in India’s semiconductor sector and the critical role Dholera SIR is playing in establishing a globally competitive industrial and technological ecosystem. During the visit, Hayashi and his team reviewed the city’s integrated planning, state-of-the-art infrastructure, digital governance systems, and centralized utility-management frameworks, including a tour of the ABCD Building, Dholera administrative and command centre, the Integrated Command and Control Centre, the Experience Centre, and Torrent Power’s 400 kV substation, demonstrating the city’s robust utility and governance backbone. A key highlight was the Tata Electronics Semiconductor Fabrication Facility, a 163-acre greenfield plant being developed in partnership with Taiwan’s Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (PSMC) with an investment of ₹91,000 crore, which will become India’s first commercial semiconductor fab, producing 50,000 wafers per month across 110 nm to 28 nm nodes and generating over 20,000 high-skilled jobs upon commencement of production in 2027. The delegation met Tata Group leadership to review progress, future expansion plans, and the operational readiness of the fab, highlighting the facility’s contribution to India–Japan technological collaboration and integration into global semiconductor supply chains. NICDC CEO Rajat Kumar Saini, along with Dholera Industrial City Development Limited MD Kuldeep Arya and senior officials, briefed the delegation on Dholera’s strategic advantages, including scalable utilities, future-ready infrastructure, and social infrastructure projects such as a 200-bed multispeciality hospital, integrated school, corporate hotel, international tent city, multi-cuisine food court, fire station, and mixed-use residential-commercial developments in the Activation Area. The visit also highlighted the growing presence of Japanese companies in Dholera, including Toyota Group, NX Logistics India, Nippon Express, Nagata, Sango, and Fuji Silvertech, with investments spanning advanced manufacturing, logistics, and industrial infrastructure, reinforcing international confidence in India’s manufacturing ecosystem. The delegation’s review emphasized Dholera’s transformation into a fully integrated smart industrial city, capable of supporting high-technology industries, advanced electronics, semiconductor manufacturing, and next-generation industrial ecosystems. Over the past year, Dholera has hosted multiple high-level delegations from JBIC, the Japan Chamber of Commerce, JETRO, JICA, major Japanese corporations, and global investors, highlighting its role in India–Japan industrial cooperation, particularly under the National Industrial Corridor Development Programme. Governor Hayashi’s visit reflects growing international recognition of Dholera as a hub for semiconductor manufacturing, advanced industrial development, and a globally competitive smart city that is strategically positioned to drive India’s industrial transformation and strengthen global value chains in electronics and semiconductors.