new delhi, Sept. 12 -- Tata Electronics plans to roll out its first semiconductor chip from its Gujarat plant by mid-2027, but the company faces potential delays if India is unable to secure ample supplies of rare earth and critical elements early enough, said two executives privy to the development. Rare earths and critical elements are widely used in the purification and fabrication of semiconductor wafers and supply disruptions could slow development. "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," an executive aware of the matter said. A clean room is a highly controlled environment free of dust, microbes and other particles to prevent contamination of sensitive electronic components during manufacturing. Tata Electronics declined to comment. A semiconductor fab needs 99% pure silicon as its most critical raw material, and uses a mix of chemicals, gases and highly specialized 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. A second executive said the company is 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. Rare earth elements are essential for advanced equipment and materials used in clean rooms....