The new facility is billed as India's first one-stop, post-design and post-fab service facility for domestic chip makers. A test facility is operating, and board manufacturing facilities will be available by the year's end. Total investments of about $15 million are planned.

The new facility is based on Taiwan's cluster model, which fueled Taiwan's rise as a leading chip manufacturer.

Expatriate Indians working in Silicon Valley are the major investors in the facility, located on five acres and including 350,000 feet² of work space. The park includes a test facility, board manufacturing, a packaging service provider and a system-level programming company.

A three-year investment strategy is planned. "The growth of the Indian semiconductor industry has been primarily in the design and other related services," said Johny Mathew, lead promoter and CEO, Semicon Park. "India needs to offer a much more comprehensive ecosystem."

Rajendra Kumar Khare, chairman of the India Semiconductor Association, added: "The launch of the new service facility [and creation] of a full-fledged testing facility . . . clearly mark a concrete move towards creating a complete ecosystem for the Indian semiconductor industry.

Promoters will supply about half the investment in the new facilities while external investors will be sought to cover the rest. India's first test house, Tessolve, is operating from Semicon Park now, and an undisclosed board manufacturer has agreed to move in by early next year.