A UK-based company is planning to set up a semiconductor fabrication unit in Odisha's Ganjam district with an investment of Rs 30,000 crore in the first phase, officials said.

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The SRAM & MRAM Technologies and Projects India Pvt Limited, the Indian unit of UK-based SRAM & MRAM Group, had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the state government on March 26 to set up the semiconductor unit in the state.

After visiting some sites near Chhatrapur in the district, its Indian company officials headed by its chairman Guruji Kumaran Swami held a meeting with the district administration at Chhatrapur on Thursday.

Ganjam Collector Dibya Jyoti Parida has assured the investors all facilities for setting up the unit.

"We have visited some sites, including the industrial park of Tata and some private lands for the establishment of the proposed semiconductor unit. A technical team of the company will visit the district to finalise the site," said Debadutt Singhdeo, project director of the firm.

The company requires around 500 to 800 acres of land to establish the unit.

Though the company officials visited some other districts as well, they preferred the site near Chhatrapur due to its proximity to Gopalpur port, a dedicated industrial corridor, an airstrip and a national highway, besides availability of clean water and energy – the basic requirement of the fabrication unit, sources said.

The company has aimed to establish the unit within two years and to provide direct employment to 5,000 people. It has also planned to expand the unit in subsequent phases by investing around Rs 2 lakh crore by 2027, said Singhdeo.

The semiconductor unit will produce memory chips, used in mobile phones, television sets, laptops, air conditioners and ATMs. Since the country is not self-reliant on the manufacture of semiconductors, it imports around Rs 3 lakh crore semiconductors annually from different countries.

"The project will boost industrialisation in the district," said Berhampur MP Chandra Sekhar Sahu.

He said that due to an attractive industrial policy, several companies are interested in investing in the state.

The proposed unit will help generate employment as well as address the semiconductors requirement in the country, Sahu said.

(Edited by : Asmita Pant)