After Adani, Zoho Shelves Its $700 Mn Semiconductor Plan

OVERVIEW Zoho has halted its $700 million attempt to enter the silicon industry. According to Sridhar Vembu, the creator of Zoho, the board has chosen to halt chipmaking efforts until a more effective technological solution is found. Last year, the SaaS unicorn requested permission from the Center to establish a chip manufacturing plant and receive incentives under the production-linked incentive system.Tamil Nadu-based software-as-a-service firm Zoho Corporation has postponed its intention to develop a $700-million compound semiconductor fabrication unit, the company’s founder Sridhar Vembu stated.“On our semiconductor fab investment plan, since this business is so capital-intensive, it requires government backing. We wanted to be completely sure of the technology path before we take taxpayer money.

On social media platform X (previously Twitter), Vembu stated, "Our board decided to put this idea on hold for the time being, until we find a better tech approach, because we did not have that confidence in the tech."The company applied for government incentives under the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) in June of last year in order to construct a facility for the manufacture of compound semiconductor chips. For this reason, the SaaS company also established Silectric Semiconductor Manufacturing.Vembu has previously disclosed Zoho's intentions to establish a semiconductor design project in Tenkasi, Tamil Nadu, prior to submitting an application for incentives to construct a chip manufacture plant under ISM.

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