Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, recently spoke about India’s semiconductor industry while announcing the second edition of the global summit, Semicon India, set to take place in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, from July 28 to 30. Chandrasekhar expressed optimism that India is now on the right path after decades of missed chances in the semiconductor space.
SemiconIndia 2023 in #Gandhinagar, #Gujarat is less than 24 hours away.
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— Rajeev Chandrasekhar 🇮🇳 (@Rajeev_GoI) July 27, 2023
The Transformational Journey
Just 19 months ago, India embarked on a vision to become a semiconductor nation. Chandrasekhar highlighted the progress made in this short time, with plans to achieve this vision within the next 10 years through an investment of $10 billion. He compared India’s approach to that of countries like China, which invested $200 billion over 25 to 30 years in the semiconductor industry but couldn’t achieve the desired results.
🤝 "It is our collective aim to establish India as one of the key partners in global semiconductor supply chains."- Hon'ble PM @NarendraModi
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— India Semiconductor Mission (@Semicon_India) July 20, 2023
Reflecting on Past Missed Opportunities
Chandrasekhar also shed light on the missed opportunities India faced in the past. In 1960, during the semiconductor revolution, Fairchild Semiconductor contemplated building a fabrication facility in India, but bureaucratic hurdles led them to opt for Malaysia instead. Subsequently, in 1989, the VLSI facility Semi-Conductor Laboratory (SCL) faced a setback due to a mysterious fire, halting production until 1997.
In 2005, a multinational semiconductor player attempted to establish operations in India, but the project ultimately shifted to China, resulting in a loss of a semiconductor facility and 4,000 jobs. In 2006, the lack of a credible policy caused India to miss out on a multibillion-dollar chip plant by Intel. The slow response from the Indian government led Intel to look elsewhere for manufacturing capacity.
India’s Semiconductor Journey with the Current Government
Despite the challenges and missed opportunities, the current government has taken significant steps to foster growth in the semiconductor industry. The approval of the Semiconductor India Program 2021 and the launch of the Digital India RISC-V (DIR-V) program are among the notable milestones. The SemiconIndia future DESIGN Design Linked Incentive (DLI) Scheme has encouraged the establishment of over 30 semiconductor design startups, with financial support already granted to five startups and 25 others being evaluated for their next-generation products.
In addition, recent commitments from companies like Micron Technologies, Applied Materials, and Lam Research have further bolstered the semiconductor ecosystem. Various proposals for ATMP (Assembly, Testing, Marking, and Packaging) and fabs are currently under evaluation by the India Semiconductor Mission. The government is also working on modernizing the SCL facility in Mohali and establishing a global standard India Semiconductor Research Center (ISRC).
Looking Ahead with Optimism
While acknowledging the challenges India faces in catching up with the latest chip manufacturing technology, Chandrasekhar remains optimistic about the progress made within the last 19 months compared to the past several decades. The government’s commitment to fostering the semiconductor industry and the promising projects underway indicate a transformative journey for India’s semiconductor sector.
