Jaypee plans Rs. 18,000 crore initial investment in microchip facility.

Jaypee Group will proceed with its ambitious microchip fabrication facility in partnership with International Business Machines Corp., betting that a new government at the centre will boost infrastructure development, the lack of which has discouraged semiconductor makers from setting up plants in Asia's third-largest economy.

Noida-based Jaypee, whose business interests include real estate, power and cement, will invest Rs. 18,000 crore through group company Jaiprakash Associates Ltd in the first phase and is targeting the Indian electronics market with annual imports of $20 billion.

Jaypee Group will decide between Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh for setting up the factory and will hold a majority stake in the new business.

'I want to make something which has not been made in India so far, which is microchips,' executive chairman Manoj Gaur said in an interview recently. Jaypee is likely to rely on internal accruals and loan from banks to fund the project.


LIVEMINT