India's SPEL Expands Packaging Capacity

BANGALORE, India — IC assembly and tester SPEL Semiconductor Ltd. has opened a $5 million leadless molded package facility as part of a $250 million expansion plan. The new facility will introduce new packaging techniques for small electronic devices.

SPEL said it plans to raise over $200 million in debt from Indian and global investors. It is targeting a revenue base of $450 million by 2011 through the packaging expansion.

"Building more advance semiconductor packages in India will stimulate the development of the semiconductor supply chain and eventually improve the core competencies of India's entire information technology industry," said Sam Varghese, chief executive officer.

Global demand for leadless molded packages is estimated to be 4 billion units. Vargehese said he expected demand to grow to 10 billion by 2011. SPEL will increase production from 252 million to over 5.6 billion units.