New Delhi, March 12 (IANS): In a major fillip to India's semiconductor journey, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will virtually lay the foundation stone for Rs 91,000 crore mega semiconductor fabrication facility in Dholera, Gujarat on Wednesday that is being built by Tata Electronics in partnership with Taiwan's Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (PSMC).

The laying of foundation stone is happening shortly after the Union Cabinet, chaired by PM Modi, approved the establishment of three new semiconductor units with an investment of about Rs 1.3 lakh crore.

Union Communications and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw will be present at the Tata-PSMC event, along with Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and other dignitaries.

The fab construction will generate over 20,000 direct and indirect skilled jobs in the region.

This fab will have manufacturing capacity of up to 50,000 wafers per month and will include next generation factory automation capabilities deploying data analytics and machine learning to achieve industry-best factory efficiency.

The new semiconductor Fab will manufacture chips for applications such as power management IC, display drivers, microcontrollers (MCU) and high-performance computing logic, addressing the growing demand in markets such as automotive, computing and data storage, wireless communication and artificial intelligence.

"Tata Group has a tradition of pioneering many sectors in the country, and we are confident that our entry in semiconductor fabrication will add to this legacy," according to N. Chandrasekaran, Chairman, Tata Sons.

India's entry in semiconductor manufacturing will significantly de-risk global supply chains and will make the country a very important player in the global semiconductor industry.

India already has deep capabilities in chip design. With these units, the country will develop capabilities in chip fabrication too.