New Delhi, April 3 -- Plans to upgrade India's lone state-owned chip fabrication unit have picked up pace, with the Centre meeting 35 companies last month in a bid to evaluate their roles in a potential deal that is worth Rs.4,000 crore.

According to two executives aware of the matter, companies like TCS, HCLTech, Israel-based Tower Semiconductors, and US firms such as Applied Materials, KLA Corporation, and IBM, among others, are vying for the opportunity to bring the existing 180-nanometre (nm) semiconductor production line of Semi-Conductor Laboratory (SCL) in Mohali up to speed and eventually move into more advanced chips.

These companies are expected to submit their bids soon, one of the two executives said on condition of anonymit...