| | AUGUST 20238Vedanta chairman Anil Agarwal said on July 28 that the company is in talks with three companies about separate tie-ups for its semiconductor unit in India, including foundries, chips, packaging, and testing. In an exclusive interview with Mint, Agarwal stated that the collaborations should take place within the next few months.Agarwal confirmed that the company plans to start producing chips from its facility within the next two and a half years. According to Agarwal, Vedanta's collaboration with Foxconn could take place on the ecosystem side.Vedanta was previously in talks with Foxconn of Taiwan to form a semiconductor joint venture for Indian markets. Foxconn, on the other hand, had withdrawn from the $19.5 billion deal, shattering the company's chipmaking plans.A Foxconn spokesperson said in a statement following the split that the companies "mutually agreed to part ways," adding that the project "was not moving fast enough" and that "there were challenging gaps (the project) was unable to smoothly overcome, as well as external issues unrelated to the project."Agarwal stated earlier today at the Semicon India conference that Vedanta had identified a "world class" partner for its semiconductor and display fabrication project in India and that the company is "in the process of tying up with them." As per people familiar with the matter, BlackRock Inc., the world's largest asset manager, is set to join forces with India's largest company, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), marking the company's return to the country after leaving in 2018. The US-based investment firm announced a 50:50 joint venture with Jio Financial Services (JFS) to establish an asset management business late on July 26.JFS is Mukesh Ambani's flagship's recently spun-off fintech arm. BlackRock manages approximately $11 trillion in assets, or seven percent of all global financial assets.After parting ways with long-time partner Hemendra Kothari of DSP, Wall Street's green crusader Larry Fink, chairman of Blackrock, will make an India comeback.Jio Blackrock will be the name of the joint venture, and it will begin operations after regulatory and statutory approvals. The business will be run by its own management team.According to people familiar with the situation, both parties have agreed to invest $150 million each to launch the venture and expand it in the future. BlackRock's digital platform Aladdin--the Asset, Liability, Debt, and Derivative Investment Network--fits into Ambani's plan to disrupt the Indian financial markets with data and technology. According to the people cited above, top executives from both companies have met to finalise the alliance's broad structure. VEDANTA TO FORM PARTNERSHIP WITH THREE FIRMS FOR SEMICONDUCTOR PRODUCTIONBLACKROCK INC. TO RE-ENTER INDIAN MARKETS VIA PARTNERSHIP WITH RELIANCE INDUSTRIESIN FOCUSIN FOCUS
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