CHENNAI: In a bid to help India emerge as a global hub of the semiconductor and chip-making industry, the state government signed an MoU with US-based Coherent Corp to set up a Centre of Excellence (CoE).
The tripartite MoU was signed between Guidance Tamil Nadu, IIT Madras Research Park and Coherent to establish its first-of-its-kind global CoE at IIT Madras Research Park in Taramani.
The centre will focus on research and development of products and services for lasers, optical networking components and systems, electric vehicle batteries and compound semiconductor devices. Coherent Corp, a leader in high-power semiconductor lasers, is also planning to set up a base in India in the next three years, according to the chief executive officer of the company, Dr Vincent Mattera.
“We are glad that Coherent Corp has chosen Tamil Nadu for its first global Centre of Excellence. Our discussions in the US with a delegation led by Dr. Mattera have borne fruit now. We are also happy that this is their first direct investment in India in laser applications,” said Industries Minister Dr. TRB Rajaa.
The MoU was signed by Guidance Tamil Nadu MD and CEO Vishnu Venugopalan, chief strategy officer and president, Materials Segment of Coherent Dr Giovanni Barbarossa and IIT Madras Research Park head of administration Raji Soni.
Highlighting the importance of the CoE, Vishnu said the MoU is significant as the state is making a transition to Industry 4.0. He highlighted that Tamil Nadu’s electronics exports have nearly tripled in one year to $5.37 billion in the financial year 2022-2023 from $1.86 billion in the previous year.