India to turn hub for chip fab, design in five years: Vaishnaw
New Delhi: India is set to emerge as a design and manufacturing hub for semiconductors in the next five years, said Ashwini Vaishnaw, the Union minister for electronics and information technology, in a conversation with Hindustan Times editor-in-chief R. Sukumar during a virtual session that kick-started the 21st edition of the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit on Tuesday. India, Vaishnaw argued, has three core strengths that will power its growth in this sector.
“When we look at our strengths and capabilities, the biggest strength is design. The second strength we have is clean power, green power. The third strength is the ability to handle very complex liquids and chemicals.
These are three large strengths which place us in a sweet spot, where we can become a player which is designing and manufacturing chips," Vaishnaw said. Vaishnaw also expects the global semiconductor market to double in the next 6-7 years to over a trillion dollars in value. The minister also announced plans to skill 80,000 people with the talent required to grow India’s position in the semiconductor ecosystem.
Vaishnaw also stated that India will see at least two large fab facilities providing “world-class technology" for India’s economy. The minister also pointed to the ongoing construction of a facility by US-based Micron as an example of the speed at which India’s semiconductor ecosystem has developed. He also revealed that India’s homegrown 4G and 5G stack had been developed and will be launched around Diwali.
By the next Diwali, Vaishnaw expects India to become an exporter of telecom technology. India already exports technology equipment to 70 countries, he said. The minister stressed the turnaround in the sector over the last decade.
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