Speedy execution holds the key to the success of India’s semiconductor thrust
BCG index). India, on its part, has a relatively inexpensive but strong talent pool in software engineering, industrial equipment and IC design, and is home to over 2,000 semiconductor design engineers.
Intel, Texas Instruments, Nvidia, AMD and Qualcomm have design and R&D centres here. Of course, we expect to host wafer fabs too.
So far, New Delhi has approved four projects, worth over ₹1.5 trillion, including Micron’s and an alliance between Tata Electronics and Taiwan’s Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp, all of which are expected to churn out 180,000 wafers a month once ready to roll. With the Adani Group and Israel’s Tower Semiconductor also planning to set up a $10 billion semiconductor fab, we will have the building blocks for local microchip-making that cover the critical value chain of design, fabrication, assembly, testing, marking and packaging.
India’s $10 billion fund meant to attract big chip-makers could move the needle further. India, like Singapore, is not making high-end chips, but given that nodes of under 10nm account for less than 5% of global chip capacity, the strategy of making larger chips is sensible, as it takes lower upfront investments and these chips are unlikely to get outmoded too soon, a risk borne in the race at the AI-led front end.
Also read: India & Singapore Sign Agreements to Work on Semiconductors, Digital Tech | PM Modi in Singapore With foreign deals and fabs, we may finally be able to ease our semiconductor struggles. But, even as we subsidize our chip goal by policy, we must ensure speedy execution of these projects.
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