With the state government taking control of the Fab City project coming up on the city outskirts and the proactive IT minister Dayanidhi Maran out of IT ministry, several semiconductor manufacturers are now directly knocking Andhra Pradesh’s doors.

Global players are literally making a beeline for the Secretariat to present their business plans to open shop in the country’s first-ever Fab City which would give a boost chip manufacturing in India. Sources said that after the exit of Maran, senior officials in the Union IT ministry too are redirecting the parties to Hyderabad from Sanchar Bhawan.

So far, three major manufacturers of semiconductors and related products have conveyed their willingness to become players in Fab City. Highly-placed sources in the government said the state government has in principle agreed to make them partners in the project. On Monday, Hindustan Semiconductors Manufacturing Corporation (HSMC), one of the major producers in the fab industry, gave a presentation. The Los Angeles-based company’s managing director Devendra Verma held discussions with officials, sources said, adding that Verma had initially planned to set up the unit in Tamil Nadu but now wants to base it in Hyderabad. HSMC has asked for 800 acres to set up its unit, the sources said.

Moser Baer, another major company, which wants to set up two fab units, would be visiting the state on Tuesday. Chairman Deepak Puri is said to have sought an appointment with chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy. Moser Baer is the world’s largest producer of magnetic storage devices such as CD, DVDs, Light CDR and CD-RWs.

Solar Semicondutor, another company set up by an NRI, has also contacted the government. Its chairman Prabhu Goel had met the chief minister and also officials recently. Developed on 1,200 acres, Fab City began with SemIndia joining it as an anchor unit with the mandate to develop its infrastructure. The company was given 100 acres recently to start the work.