New Delhi: To develop and run a $4 billion facility in Mumbai, the new CEO of Vedanta Resources LTD.’s unproven display sector is looking to acquire top personnel worldwide. The display venture will soon start hiring people from South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, and other locations to set up a liquid crystal display panel fabrication unit in India, according to YJ Chen, a former employee of Chinese display manufacturer HKC Corp. According to him, the factory will generate up to 3500 direct jobs.
“We need a lot of technicians, very talented people,” Chen, who has 23 years of experience in the display industry, said in an interview in India’s financial hub of Mumbai. “That’s the biggest challenge — people.” Anil Agarwal, a wealthy businessman, is extending his metals and mining conglomerate into electronics components even though it is heavily indebted to benefit from India’s efforts to become a technology manufacturing centre. The display firm is independent of Vedanta’s faltering semiconductor division and may have difficulty succeeding because it requires less technical expertise.
Vedanta intends to produce glass and assemble LCD panels at its new factory. Vedanta has teamed with Foxconn Group affiliate Innolux Corp for the display business. According to Chen, assuming the unit receives essential finance from the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, manufacturing might begin before the end of 2025. Modi has pledged to invest $10 billion and stated that his administration would pay for half the cost of developing all semiconductors and display fabrication facilities to woo chip and display makers in India. While Vedanta’s aspirations for chips have yet to receive official support, its display business may have an easier time receiving state incentives because it has established essential tech alliances. Avanstrate, a company based in Japan that creates layers of LCD screens, is also owned by Vedanta.
The primary display manufacturers worldwide are gradually replacing LCD technology with crisper OLEDs. The industry leader in display technology, Samsung Display Co., has stopped making LCDs in preference of spending a significant amount of money on the creation of next-generation displays. LG Display Co., a local rival, is likewise reducing LCD production. With its drive into presentations, Vedanta hopes to capture a portion of India’s display market, which it projects will reach $30 billion annually over the following seven years. For long-term success, it will need to compete with cheap Chinese LCDs and create newer screens. “We need to build our own supply chain in India”, Chen said. “We will focus on new designs at lower costs and compete with the Chinese.”
