Bhubaneswar, April 20 -- India moved a step closer to ending its dependence on imported chip packaging technology on Sunday, with Odisha chief minister Mohan Majhi and Union electronics and IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw laying the foundation stone for the country's first glass substrate-based advanced chip packaging unit in Bhubaneswar that promises to bring cutting-edge semiconductor packaging capability for critical sectors ranging from artificial intelligence to defence. The facility, being set up by US-based 3D Glass Solutions Inc. (3DGS) at Info Valley in Bhubaneswar, entails an investment of approximately Rs.1,943 crore and will deploy advanced 3D heterogeneous integration (3DHI) packaging technology which India has so far relied on imports to access. Vaishnaw, who attended the groundbreaking alongside state IT minister Mukesh Mahaling, called it "a historical day" for Odisha. "The state is diversifying from metals and minerals to many new industrial bases," Vaishnaw said, pointing to Odisha's emergence as both an IT hub and an electronics manufacturing destination. "A high-tech industry coming to Odisha is a matter of pride. This is an advanced technology. Normally, a silicone substrate is used in the manufacturing of chips, and now the technology of advanced 3D Glass substrate will be used, and the foundation stone of the first major plant using that technology has been laid in Odisha. We will also work to double the capacity of the plant after the completion of the first phase of the plant," said Vaishnaw. The vertically integrated unit will package semiconductor chips for high-stakes applications including artificial intelligence, 5G networks, defence systems, data centres, and high-performance computing. At scale, the facility is designed to produce 69,600 glass panel substrates, 50 million assembled units, and 13,200 3DHI modules annually. It is expected to generate over 2,500 direct and indirect jobs. The technology stack centred on glass interposers and embedded glass substrates represents a significant leap from conventional organic packaging, offering better thermal performance and higher integration density critical for AI-grade chips....