This week, ROHM and Tata Electronics announced a strategic partnership aimed at semiconductor manufacturing in India — specifically a framework around power semiconductors, with an initial focus on assembling and testing an automotive-grade silicon MOSFET in a TOLL package, targeting mass production shipments in 2026. That's a mouthful. But it's also a pretty practical play.
Here's why it matters.
Power semiconductors are where "Make in India" can compound
Power devices are everywhere: EV drivetrains, onboard chargers, data-center power delivery, industrial motor drives, renewable energy inverters, consumer appliances — you name it.
They're also a category where packaging, reliability, and manufacturing discipline are a huge part of the value. That's important because it allows a country to build capability that isn't strictly dependent on having the most cutting-edge logic node on day one.
In other words: you can build real industrial leverage through backend excellence, even before you become a leading-edge foundry powerhouse.
Backend is not the "easy part" — it's the part that scales trust
The partnership's near-term plan centers on assembly and test. Some people still talk about OSAT like it's a supporting role. That's outdated.
In automotive especially, the credibility comes from consistency:
- stable yields
- rigorous qualification
- long-term reliability data
- predictable supply
If you can do that well, you're not just "assembling chips." You're becoming a trusted supplier to industries that hate surprises.
The first product choice is telling
The initial device is an automotive-grade silicon MOSFET designed in India and packaged in a mainstream power package style. That's not random. It's a way to get volume, build process muscle, and create a feedback loop between design assumptions and manufacturing realities.
It also creates a path to "the next thing," which is usually where the real value sits: higher-value packaging, broader product lines, and deeper integration into global customer programs.
What I'll watch in 2026
If you want to track whether this becomes meaningful, watch three things:
- Quality signals: qualification milestones, customer wins, reliability reports.
- Packaging evolution: do they move toward higher-value packaging co-development, not just standard flows?
- Ecosystem pull-through: do materials, tooling, and test capabilities localize enough to reduce friction?
My take
If India's semiconductor ambition is a marathon, partnerships like this are the miles that actually count. Not because they're flashy, but because they build repeatable capability and credibility.
And in semiconductors, credibility is the rarest commodity of all.
References
- ROHM (Press Release) — "ROHM and Tata Electronics Form Strategic Partnership in the Semiconductor Business" — December 22, 2025
- The Economic Times — "Tata Electronics to test and assemble automotive chips with Japan's ROHM" — December 22, 2025