Tokyo: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday travelled to Sendai in the Japanese prefecture of Miyagi to visit a semiconductor plant.
Modi was accompanied by his Japanese counterpart, Shigeru Ishiba.
The prime ministers travelled to Sendai from Tokyo in a bullet train.
The facility ear Sendai, in Miyagi Prefecture, is a new semiconductor wafer fabrication plant being developed by Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (PSMC) of Taiwan. It is built in partnership with SBI Holdings and Japanese stakeholders under the joint venture Japan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (JSMC).
It is being built at the Second Northern Sendai Central Industrial Park in Ohira Village and represents one of Japan’s biggest pushes to revive its chip-making industry.
The plant will manufacture 12-inch semiconductor wafers, starting with 40-nanometre technology, and later expanding to 28nm and 55 nm nodes.
Its primary focus will be automotive electronics, which are in huge demand for electric vehicles and next-generation mobility.
Once operational, the plant is expected to produce around 40,000 wafers per month, making it a significant contributor to Japan’s domestic chip supply.
Japan is aiming to reduce its dependence on imports and create its own resilient semiconductor supply chain.
The government is supporting the project with subsidies worth up to 140 billion Yen as part of an 800 billion Yen investment package.
The Sendai region already has a strong chip ecosystem, with suppliers like Renesas, SUMCO, Shin-Etsu, and research expertise at Tohoku University. This new plant will strengthen the region as a semiconductor hub.
