Gujarat chip city: Japanese, Taiwanese firms plan housing corridors in Dholera; Tata’s fab to host expat employees

Japanese and Taiwanese electronics and semiconductor companies are exploring the development of country-specific housing corridors in Dholera, Gujarat, to accommodate expat employees working on India’s first chip fabrication unit.Tokyo Electron Ltd (TEL) from Japan and Taiwan’s PSMC, both partners in the Tata Group’s upcoming Dholera fab, are reportedly considering private housing facilities for their staff. A senior Gujarat government official cited by ET said, “We see interest from Japanese and Taiwanese companies to set up housing corridors for their employees in Dholera. This will be mainly for Taiwanese employees from PSMC and their suppliers as well as the large consortium of Japanese companies that are going to be working in the region for the Tata fab.”Under Dholera’s master plan, land has already been allocated for housing and recreational facilities for expat employees. These private townships are expected to complement the housing constructed by Tata Group and the government’s Global Tent City initiative. “The idea behind these private facilities could be to have exclusive townships within Dholera that will be likely to cater to the needs of the expats from those countries. We already have several Japanese townships in Gujarat in other manufacturing hubs,” the official added.TEL is leading the Japanese initiative. In September last year, it partnered with Tata Electronics to develop semiconductor equipment infrastructure for the Dholera fab and the upcoming assembly and test facility in Jagiroad, Assam. TEL will also train Tata Electronics’ workforce on its equipment and support R&D initiatives.TEL executive vice president Takeshi Okubo was quoted by ET as saying, “We are looking into how we can make this happen for the benefit of our employees. This is something that we have not done in other countries but feel it is important in Dholera's context because locations like South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore already have many established fabs. Dholera is completely different.”The housing corridors may also help expats adjust to a predominantly vegetarian diet in Gujarat. Dholera is about 100 km from Ahmedabad and 600 km from Mumbai. Okubo added that the upcoming Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train, currently under construction, could further improve connectivity and attract talent.Other companies, including American engineering services provider Jacobs Solutions, are exploring similar options to support their workforce. Koti Vadlamudi, executive vice president at Jacobs, said, “With semiconductors in India, maybe it is an early story, but there's possibly an avenue to build out some infrastructure for the workforce there.”Sinead Giblin, general manager and senior vice president Asia, People and Places Solutions APACME at Jacobs, said, “We would sort of piggyback off a partner who is doing it. We're looking at options but it is a bit challenging because of the remoteness”.