New Delhi, Feb 28 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate an advanced semiconductor Assembly, Testing, Marking and Packaging (ATMP) facility in Sanand on Saturday.

The inauguration is said to mark a significant step in India’s semiconductor manufacturing ambitions under the National Semiconductor Mission.

The Sanand unit, established by Micron Semiconductor Technology India Pvt. Ltd., has been developed with an investment of Rs 22,516 crore.

The facility will undertake assembly, testing, marking and packaging of semiconductor memory products, including solid state drives (SSDs) and RAM-type DRAM and NAND devices intended for global markets.

According to officials, a team of 2,000 employees is currently working at the plant.

The workforce is expected to expand to provide direct employment to around 5,000 people in the coming years.

The firm’s representatives said that People with Disabilities are also employed at the facility as operators and technicians, and that opportunities are available for individuals with relevant skills.

The project has been implemented within the planned timeline, with the state government stating that Gujarat is positioning itself at the forefront of semiconductor manufacturing in India.

Micron Technology’s President and CEO, Sanjay Mehrotra, underlined the importance of memory and storage in emerging technologies.

He said, “In today’s technological era, particularly in Artificial Intelligence, memory and storage play a crucial role. Without strong memory and storage support, AI systems cannot function properly.”

He added that as Artificial Intelligence applications deliver faster and real-time responses, the requirement for advanced memory solutions continues to grow.

The semiconductor manufacturing process that feeds into the ATMP facility begins with sand, from which pure silicon is extracted.

The silicon is melted and shaped into cylindrical ingots, which are sliced into thin wafers.

In fabrication plants, electronic patterns are imprinted onto the wafers and multiple layers are applied through photolithography, forming transistors and creating memory structures.

The wafers are then cut into individual chips. These chips are sent to the ATMP plant in Sanand, where they undergo assembly before being subjected to performance and reliability testing, including checks on speed and memory capacity.

After testing, the chips are marked and packaged for distribution.

The Sanand facility will process advanced DRAM and NAND wafers manufactured at the firm’s global factories and convert them into finished memory products.

The company said the output will cater to international markets and support growing demand for memory and storage solutions, including those used in Artificial Intelligence systems.

–IANS

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