Last year we reported that India's Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) is considering supporting the construction of a microLED production line in India, or to support the establishment of a supply chain for microLED development and production.
Yesterday the Indian government has approved a new project in Gujarat, by Crystal Matrix Limited, to establish a microLED and mini-LED production facility. The new fab, to be located in Dholera, Gujarat, will produce 6-inch GaN microLED and miniLED wafers, and will also produce mini-LED and micro-LED displays. The project's total cost is estimated at 3200 Cr INR (or about $336 million USD).
Crystal Matrix's new facility, according to the approved plan, will have the annual capacity to produce 72,000 sqm of display panels, and 24,000 epiwafers. The company says it targets a wide range of displays - from large-area TV panels through IT and smartphone displays to microdisplays.
The GaN Epiwafer production plan calls for the production of red, green and blue 6" GaN and AlGaInP LED epiwafers. Crystal Matrix says it collaborates with Lumens and Soft-Epi for the production technology.
For the microLED module (display) production, Crystal Matrix is planning to build an ATMP (Assembly, Testing, Marking, and Packaging) facility, that will build miniLED/microLED CoB/CoG display panels.
India has been looking at various display technology in the last few years, and has started supporting OLED R&D and has been considering a direct support for an AMOLED production plan - although that project hasn't progressed since 2022, it seems. MicroLED technology, however, which is seen as the next-generation display tech, may enable India to leap-frog over current LCD and OLED technology, as in any case it will take years for the industry to mature in India. This will be interesting to watch.
