DELHI Delhi: Tata Sons will choose Singapore as a “key partner” for its semiconductor plans, a senior minister in the city-state said on Friday. Speaking to reporters after a meeting with Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran earlier in the day Speaking, Singapore's Home Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam said semiconductors were “a big topic of discussion” during the meeting. “If they (Tata) want, they can do business with anyone in the world. Not that they need to do it in Singapore, but I think they will choose Singapore as a key partner, not just as a partner, but as a core partner.”

Shanmugam, along with Minister for Manpower and Second Minister for Trade and Industry Tan See Leng, is on a one-day visit to the financial capital. He said the Southeast Asian country is a “serious and credible player” in the international semiconductor industry, adding that Tata The group has been present in Singapore for five decades. The visiting minister said that entities based in Singapore or the country account for 20 percent of semiconductor equipment production globally. Moreover, only 670 Despite its relatively small size in square kilometres, Singapore has 25 semiconductor foundries, he said, acknowledging that the level at which these operate may not be the best in the world.

Notably, the Tata group has ambitious plans on the semiconductor manufacturing front, including an investment of Rs 91,000 crore for a facility in Gujarat and Rs 27,000 crore for another in Assam. It has partnered with Taiwan's Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (PSMC) for this venture. Asked about Niti Aayog Chief Executive Officer BVR Subramanian's call for India to reconsider its stance and join the 15-nation Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), Shanmugam did not give any specific answer.

He said India had given several reasons for pulling out of talks to join the partnership in 2019, including both macroeconomic and political issues, and he was not sure whether they had been dealt with.