The Tata group is planning to build a huge semiconductor fab in Gujarat’s Dholera, and it will begin operations in 2024 itself, chairman N. Chandrasekaran said on Wednesday. He said the group is in the final stages of negotiations for the plant.

“The Tata group has also made a commitment and is on the verge of concluding and announcing a huge semiconductor fab in Dholera, and we are about to complete these negotiations and start in 2024,” Chandrasekaran said at the Gujarat business summit.

The chairman also said the group would begin construction of a 20-gigawatt lithium-ion storage battery factory in the state’s Sanand city in the next two months.

Chandrasekaran said in the recent past, the group has made a “significant commitment” to expand its presence in Sanand, which, he said, is becoming a home for all of the group’s electric vehicle technology.

He added that the expansion in Sanand has been undertaken to meet the growing demand for EVs.

The investment in the battery storage plant will occur in two phases, with work set to begin in the next couple of months.

Tata Motors in November completed the acquisition of Ford India’s Sanand plant for Rs 725.7 crore. Tata Motors CFO P.B. Balaji had said the company would start making electric vehicles soon from the plant.

EV hub

The Gujarat business summit provided an occasion for many entities to showcase their EV capabilities, a sign of the state emerging as a hub in EVs.

MG Motors, the second-largest EV seller in the passenger vehicle segment, showcased its range.

MG is exploring local manufacturing of EV components and establishing a battery assembly unit in the state.

It plans cell manufacturing and deploying hydrogen fuel-cell technology through joint ventures and third-party collaborations.

The company has invested Rs 7,000 crore in the state, rolling out over 2 lakh cars from its Halol plant.

Wardwizard Innovations & Mobility Ltd, a start-up listed on the BSE, which markets its two-wheelers under the brand name Joy e-bike, has recently inked a Rs 2000-crore MoU with the Gujarat government.

The start-up plans to carry out R&D in electric two- and three-wheelers, establish a motor assembly at Vadodara’s facility and produce Li-ion cells.

It will also develop ancillaries to manufacture raw materials.

The company showcased concepts across the electric two-wheeler segment under the brand name “Joy e-bike” and the electric commercial vehicles segment under the banner of “Joy e-rik”, at the Gujarat business summit.

Switch Mobility Ltd, the EV arm of Hinduja Group, which manufactures carbon-neutral electric buses and light commercial vehicles, flagged off its double-decker bus, Switch EiV 22, at the summit.