ISMC to invest $3 bln for chip plant in India; Amazon cuts back paid Covid-19 leave in the US; Rise Capital enters India

ISMC, a semiconductor consortium, will invest Rs. 22,900 crore ($3 billion) in India's southern state of Karnataka to set up a chip-making plant, the state government said in a statement on Sunday. The plant is to come up on a 150-acre plot on the outskirts of the royal city of Mysuru, about three hours by car south of Bengaluru. ISMC is a joint venture between Abu Dhabi-based Next Orbit Ventures and Israel's Tower Semiconductor, which may soon be acquired by US chip giant Intel. This plant, India’s first semiconductor fabrication unit — a 65nm analogue semiconductor foundry — is expected to generate more than 1,500 direct jobs and 10,000 indirect jobs, the Karnataka government said in its statement. Tower Semiconductor, is the principal technology partner, with the project initially funded by Next Orbit Ventures Fund. The consortium is one of the three applicants for the $10 billion incentive package for semiconductor manufacturing that India is offering under a national semiconductor mission. Amazon is cutting paid time off for front-line US workers who test positive for Covid-19, starting today, CNBC reports. All US-based Amazon workers who test positive for Covid-19 will now get up to five days of excused, unpaid leave, the company told workers in a notice sent Saturday. A spokesperson told CNBC, that workers are still able to use their sick time off if needed. Wipro will continue to look for large acquisitions in underpenetrated areas of opportunity that can be scaled even further, Economic Times reports, citing CFO Jatin Dalal. The company has taken aggressive steps to regain revenue growth leadership under CEO Thierry Delaporte, who has spent billions of dollars buying businesses including Capco, CAS Group and Rising. Last week, the $10 billion IT services giant, India’s fourth-biggest, reported earnings matching street expectations. Accenture has named Nick Mulcahy, the CEO of Zag, which the tech services giant acquired, as the New Zealand country managing director, elevating him from his role as head of technologies, Consultancy reports. His predecessor Ben Morgan will assume the newly-created position of New Zealand regional growth lead. Mulcahy joined Accenture as a managing director in 2020 upon its acquisition of Wellington-headquartered Zag, a SAP and cloud consultancy, for a reported $45 million. Rise Capital, a VC firm founded by former Tiger Global executive Nazar Yasin, has entered India, hiring Anuj Mehta as its India head, Economic Times reports. The VC firm is looking to take the seed to Series B bets on Indian startups with cheque sizes ranging from $100,000 to $10 million from its third fund, Yasin, who quit Tiger Global in 2013, told ET. Rise Capital, which has backed companies such as Facily, Kitopi, Kueski and Gaia, has already closed two deals in India recently. It has invested in TradeX, an investment app company, and SaveIn, a neobank, as part of their larger seed stage rounds, according to ET. Theme music courtesy Free Music & Sounds: https://soundcloud.com/freemusicandsounds