NEW DELHI, Aug. 12 -- The Union cabinet on Tuesday approved key manufacturing and infrastructure projects worth approximately Rs.18,500 crore.

Among the approvals are four new semiconductor projects in Odisha, Punjab, and Andhra Pradesh; a 700 MW Tato-II hydroelectric project in Arunachal Pradesh; and the expansion of the Lucknow metro over the next five years.

With Tuesday's approvals, the total number of semiconductor projects officially sanctioned by the Centre's India Semiconductor Mission has risen to 10, since Micron's memory chip packaging plant was approved in Sanand, Gujarat, in June 2023.

Of these, four projects, including India's only modernized chip fab by Tata Electronics, are located in Gujarat, two in Odisha, and one eac...