SK hynix secures $450M grants for $3.9B investment in Indiana

The U.S. Department of Commerce announced that the Korean chip maker will be given the subsidy under the CHIPS Act.

SK hynix's headquarters in Icheon, Gyeonggi [YONHAP]

SK hynix will be given a subsidy of up to $450 million for its $3.9 billion chip-packaging facility in Indiana, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced Tuesday.

The advanced packaging and R&D center will likely serve as a key site for the expansion of the company's footing in high-end memory chips like High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) thanks to the proximity to major client Nvidia.

On top of the subsidy, up to $500 million in loans will be available under the CHIPS and Science Act, according to the Commerce Department.

“In addition to the proposed direct funding of up to $450 million, the CHIPS Program Office would make up to $500 million of proposed loans — which is part of the $75 billion in loan authority provided by the CHIPS and Science Act — available to SK hynix under the nonbinding PMT,” it said in a statement.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo celebrated the decision.

“Today’s historic announcement with SK hynix would further solidify America’s AI hardware supply chain in a way no other country on earth can match, with every major player in advanced semiconductor manufacturing and packaging building or expanding on our shores,” said the secretary in the statement.

Samsung Electronics was given $6.4 billion in grants for its $45 billion chip investment in Texas.

BY PARK EUN-JEE [park.eunjee@joongang.co.kr]