Amidst rumours about Vedanta Foxconn’s joint venture struggling to partner for a production-grade technology license, Vedanta has now appointed David Reed as the Chief Executive Officer of its semiconductor business. A 35-year veteran in the semiconductor industry who has worked at NXP, Global Foundries and Texas Instruments. Reed will be responsible for setting up a state-of-the-art semiconductor fab unit and semiconductor assembling and testing unit in India. Vedanta had applied for incentives for setting up the wafer and display fabs under the Rs 76,000 crore semiconductor scheme announced by the Ministry of Electronics and IT.
“We are delighted to welcome David Reed to Vedanta,” said Anil Agarwal, Chairman, of Vedanta. “He has played a pivotal role in shaping the entire global semiconductor industry. His expertise and experience will be an asset as we embark upon this critical journey with Foxconn to help create a sustainable domestic electronic manufacturing ecosystem in India, in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of an AatmaNirbhar Bharat,” he added.
Reed started his career at Texas Instruments in 1984, where he served for 26 years in a variety of leadership roles across the world. And in his latest stint, he was Executive Vice President and General Manager of global operations at NXP semiconductors. Reed moved to NXP as part of the merger with Freescale Semiconductor, where he had served as Senior Vice President for manufacturing operations. Before that, David was Vice President and General Manager at GlobalFoundries.
David Reed said, “This venture is a watershed development for the global semiconductor industry, and I am excited to be part of it. I look forward to leading a diverse team of highly talented and committed professionals and will work alongside them to bring this historic project to fruition.”
While Vedanta is yet to disclose the technology license for fabs, in the meanwhile, in September 2022, Vedanta signed an MoU with the Gujarat government to set up India’s first semiconductor fab unit, a display fab unit, and a semiconductor assembling and testing unit in the state. The company has also recently signed MoUs with 30 Japanese companies for the development of India’s semiconductor and display glass manufacturing ecosystem.
Having Reed on board, who has international experience in the establishment of a complete semiconductor ecosystem with global execution of wafer fabrication, research and development, assembly and testing, total quality management and packaging, and supply chain management, hopefully, Vedanta’s semiconductor business plan would move in the right and speedy direction.