By Dominique Vidalon and Sudip Kar-Gupta
PARIS (Reuters) – France said on Monday it will provide 2.9 billion euros ($3.10 billion) in state aid to help support an investment of 7.5 billion euros that chipmakers STMicroelectronics and GlobalFoundries are making to build a semiconductor factory in Crolles, southeastern France.
“This is a considerable and massive” investment, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told a joint news conference held at the ministry with the heads of the two companies.
The 2.9 billion euros are part of the 5.5 billion euros package France has set aside for its investments in the microchip sector by 2030, he added.
The United States and the European Union are offering billions in state subsidies for home-grown chip factories to cut their reliance on Asian suppliers.
The EU wants to double its global chip market share to 20% in 2030 under its Chips Act agreed in April 2023, which follows the U.S. CHIPS for America Act.
On April 28, STMicroelectronics and GlobalFoundries secured EU approval to build the Crolles chip factory with French state aid.
The companies announced their plan in July last year, with the new facility to be located next to STM’s existing plant in Crolles and targeted to reach full capacity by 2028, with up to 620,000 wafers per year of production at a size of 18-nanometers.
Those are used in automotive, internet-of-things and mobile applications. The new factory would create around 1,000 new jobs.
France overall aims to create 10,000 new jobs in the semiconductor sector by 2030.
($1 = 0.9352 euros)
(Reporting by Dominique Vidalon; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Benoit Van Overstraeten)
