India is rapidly emerging as a significant player in the global semiconductors landscape, transitioning from a stronghold in chip design to taking steps toward manufacturing, according to John Neuffer, President and CEO of the Semiconductor Industry Association.
He emphasised that India has “done a lot right” in the sector, noting that 20% of the global semiconductor workforce is already based in the country.
Addressing the 9th Carnegie Global Tech Summit in the national capital on Friday on progress in semiconductors by India, Neuffer said, “India has done a lot right when it comes to our sector. 20% of our workforce is here. We have a core design of our ships. We have a great ecosystem for that. I think we are in a very special moment right now. We have this trust initiative in front of us. We also have a bilateral trade agreement in front of us.”
He said, “I think those are two potential vectors for change that can really make a difference as India moves from not just design but also into the manufacturing side of things. India has made some great progress so far. Two years ago, there was really nothing in play. Now there are six important projects in play for manufacturing, including the assembly test packaging facility being built.”
India Shines In Semiconductors: What Else?
Meanwhile, Siddharth Mittal, CEO and Managing Director, Biocon Limited who was part of a panel discussion at the summit noted that spoke about pharmaceutical sector of the US is the biggest market for India and “very price sensitive.”
“The US has a great research ecosystem. We have the talent, and India has a good understanding of the entire ecosystem. The US, of course, has a great research ecosystem, and I think that’s where I see a first opportunity. How do you join hands to innovate or create joint innovation hubs to do the same thing differently? I think there is a connect to China angle because when we talk about national security, when we talk pharmaceuticals, it’s because of over-dependency and reliance on China. And when you look at the entire ecosystem of pharmaceuticals, while the EPI is manufactured in India and the US, but India is still dependent 70% on China to procure starting materials or raw materials. So, if we do not address the entire value chain, we will not fix the problem.
He further said, “There is a huge opportunity today. Forty-fifty per cent volumes of the drug consumed by patients in the US comes from India. And I think that already speaks a lot about the partnership that we had over the past four decades informally.”
What Others Say?
Meanwhile, Rob Sherman, Vice President, Policy & Deputy Chief Privacy Officer, Meta spoke about creating an AI model and said, “If you are making an AI model, and you want to serve a country like India, it needs to understand the Indian data set, Indian language, Indian concepts, so a part of that is creating data sets that can be used, and the Government of India has done heavy work in that.”
Speaking about iCET, Sushil Pal, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India said, “iCET has one of the most productive bilateral cooperation with the US…”
“I think iCET has been one of the most productive bilateral cooperation with the US. India’s first semiconductor plant was with the cooperation from American industry and the production from the pilot facilities have already started. Hopefully, by the end of the year, I think from the main facility as well, it should be starting. Apart from that, not only in the fabrication and packaging space but also in the design space, there has been a massive collaboration and interest being shown by many companies of US origin. If you talk about the whole ecosystem, there again we have a strong participation and interest being shown by companies from the US. It covers the complete spectrum of the Semiconductors value chain, the design, fabrication to the terrain building, R&D and all that,” he said.
