Japan is set to allocate almost ¥2 trillion ($13.3 billion) in an extra budget to boost its capacity to make and secure semiconductors at home, according to government officials familiar with the matter.
Of the total, about ¥760 billion will go into a fund to support the mass production of chips, money that could be used for supporting a second Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. factory in Kumamoto Prefecture, according to the people who spoke on condition of anonymity because the matter isn’t public yet.
About ¥640 billion will be used for another fund to support research of cutting-edge chips, according to the people. That fund could be used for Japan’s homegrown chip venture Rapidus, they added. About ¥570 billion will be assigned to a separate fund to enhance the stable supply of chips to Japan, they said.