new delhi, Sept. 12 -- Domestic conglomerate Tata Electronics plans to roll out its first semiconductor chip from its plant at Dholera, Gujarat, by mid-2027 but faces potential delays if India is unable to secure ample supplies of rare earth and critical elements by then, said two senior executives privy to the development. "We're currently in a massive construction phase. We expect to complete our facility, including the clean room, by early 2027, which is when we'll start moving in all our machinery and equipment. This is when trial production will begin, and the first wafers should hopefully start rolling out by mid-2027," said one of the executives cited above, requesting anonymity since the plans were still in process. A second executive concurred, adding that Tata Electronics had finalized most of its initial vendor partners required for the chip fab. "The early partners of the project have largely been selected by us in line with the recommendations given to us by PSMC (Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Company), our technology partner. We're going ahead with their recommendations as part of the initial production process. Beyond that, we'll likely scale up and look to diversify partners across the global supply chain," he added. The fabrication plant was announced in February 2024 under the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM), a government initiative launched to incentivise and boost the domestic semiconductor ecosystem. With a net project cost of $11 billion, the chip fab initially aimed to produce the first wafer by the end of 2026. It has been hiring employees from semiconductor firms across Japan, Korea and Taiwan, and has set up a dedicated supply-chain team to manage vendor inquiries, the people cited above said. However, concerns have been raised internally about potential disruptions from the current crisis around rare earth and critical elements that are used in the purification and fabrication of semiconductor wafers. The second executive cited above said, "There is considerable use of rare earth metals and minerals in the chip fabrication process. Associated elements such as molybdenum, hafnium and others are also used. If the current China-linked disruption continues by the time our clean room is ready, we may face delays in making wafers from India." Tata Electronics declined to comment. A semiconductor fabrication plant, or fab, needs 99% pure silicon as its most critical raw material, and uses a mix of chemicals, gases and highly specialised machinery to turn it into semiconductor wafers. Once this is done, specialized processes are used to etch integrated circuits onto these wafers in layers. The more intricate and densely packed a wafer, the better is its performance. After this, cutting the wafers into individual chips, testing and packaging them into usable microprocessors are done by assembly, testing, marking and packaging (ATMP) plants, or outsourced semiconductor assembly and testing (Osat) plants. Industry stakeholders said despite delays, Tata's chip foundry was on track for chip production. Kanishka Chauhan, senior principal analyst, emerging trends and technologies at Gartner, said, "The pace of construction in Dholera is rapid, and Tata Electronics is making real progress in bringing the chip fab to life. India's semiconductor industry is chasing a similar goal, with multiple ancillary semiconductor equipment providers setting-up presence in the country....