Japan to Add $2.3 Billion Subsidy to Rapidus for Chitose Chip Plant

TOKYO (Reuters] - Japan's Industry Ministry is finalizing a plan to give state-backed chipmaker Rapidus an additional 300 billion yen ($2.27 Billion) to fund the construction of a semiconductor plant on the northern island Hokkaido. This was reported by a local newspaper on Saturday.

Rapidus, which selected Chitose near Sapporo in February as the location for its cutting-edge two nanometre chip factory, had previously received funding of 70 billion yen from the government.

Rapidus will receive an additional grant to build a prototype line that is scheduled for launch in 2025. This was reported by the Hokkaido Shimbun newspaper, citing multiple unidentified sources.

In February, Rapidus chairman Tetsuro Higashi stated to Reuters that the company would need approximately 7 trillion yen mostly from the taxpayer in order to mass-produce advanced logic chips in 2027. This support was provided by American chip giant IBM Corp.

A subsidy of up to 476 billion yen is being offered by the Japanese government to a Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) plant in Kyushu. Sony Group Corp and Denso Corp have a minority interest.

($1 = 132.3100 yen)