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A proposal of diversified group Vedanta with Taiwan-based Innolux as a technology provider can begin mass production of LCD displays in India in 18-24 months after receiving government approval, a senior official of Innolux said.
Vedanta has onboarded Innolux as a technology provider to set up a display screen manufacturing unit at an estimated cost of $3-4 billion in the country.
Vedanta has submitted the proposal to the Ministry of Electronics and IT (Meity) under the programme for semiconductor and display fab ecosystem for incentives.
Innolux President and COO, James Yang, who has experience of project rollout, told PTI in an interview that the venture can begin the first phase of mass production of LCD displays within 24 months.
"Once we decide to go, in 18 to 24 months, we can finish the first phase and start the mass production. Phase 2 might take another 6 to 9 months," Yang said.
Innolux owns 14 TFT-LCD fabs and 3 touch sensor fabs in Jhunan and Tainan, Taiwan, with production lines of all generations.
Currently, companies in India import their entire display requirement from overseas.
Over the past 30 years, LCDs have been the base, Yang said, adding that Innolux believes they will continue to dominate the display segment with over 88 per cent of the market by at least 2030.
"These trends meet India's national policies for satisfying domestic demand, replacing imports, and potentially enabling exports," he said.
When asked about the company's focus on LCD display instead of advanced display technologies like OLED, Yang said it has been more than 17 years since OLED entered the market, but its market share currently remains around 2 per cent.
"We believe that despite potential advancements, mature display technology will still be LCD. LCD is the foundation for premium technologies. OLED is essentially a derivative of LCD technology, and while it has its applications, LCD remains fundamental. Similarly, MicroLED also builds upon LCD technology," Yang said.
He said that if the production of the display starts by 2026 then the project will reach break-even by 2028 and the total return of investment can be realised in 13 years.
Yang said that the project will initially need a total of 5,000 employees.
Out of which, "2,000...will be engineers. We will get around 80 to 100 technicians from Innolux to India during this project. We will send around 300 engineers to Innolux for training for mass production," Yang said.
Besides the display proposal, the government has received a $8 billion proposal from Israel-based Tower Semiconductors and a multi-billion semiconductor fabrication plant project from Tata Group.
