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NEW DELHI, Feb 29 (Reuters) - India gave the go-ahead to construction of three semiconductor plants worth 1.26 trillion rupees ($15.2 billion) by firms including Tata Group and CG Power on Thursday, as the country pursues its goal of becoming an electronics powerhouse.
India, which is seeking to rival countries such as Taiwan in chipmaking, expects its semiconductor market to be worth $63 billion by 2026, but does yet have a chipmaking facility.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants to make India a chipmaker for the world as his government tries to overcome setbacks faced in its bid to offer $10 billion in incentives to the industry.
Indian Electronics Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said construction will begin on the plants within the 100 days, adding that they will manufacture and package chips for sectors including defence, automobiles and telecommunication.
"This is a big decision for the country and a key accomplishment towards making India a self-dependent country," Vaishnaw told reporters.
He did give updates on other key chipmaking applicants, including Indian conglomerate Vedanta VDAN.NS, Taiwan's Foxconn 2317.TW and Israel's Tower Semiconductor TSEM.TA.
Tata will partner with Taiwan's Powerchip 6770.TW to set up India's first chipmaking plant worth 910 billion rupees in Gujarat state's Dholera, he said, while CG Power CGPO.NS will partner with Japan's Renesas Electronics Corp 6723.T and Thailand's Stars Microelectronics SMT.BK for a 76 billion rupees chip packaging plant, also in Gujarat.
A third chip packaging plant worth 270 billion rupees will be set up in the eastern state of Assam by Tata unit Tata Semiconductor Assembly and Test Pvt Ltd, Vaishnaw added.
($1 = 82.9061 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Shivam Patel in New Delhi; Editing by YP Rajesh and Alexander Smith)