In an address at SEMICON India-2023 at the India Expo Mart, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw underlined the rapid strides taken by India in the semiconductor sector in terms of ensuring a significant leap in semiconductor units, talent development, and design centers.
Vaishnaw referred to the rapid development in the sector and stated, “In a very short time, we have cleared 5 units on semiconductors.” Now, construction is going on from different sides. The micron unit and Morigaon Tata unit are in process. Constructions for the remaining three will start soon. This fast development depicts that India is going to be one of the main contributors to the semiconductor industry.
The minister also spoke about the emphasis of the government on talent creation. He said India wants to build a pool of 85,000 engineers and technicians over ten years. “We have made significant progress in that direction. We have already signed up with 113 universities, academic institutions, and R&D organizations for semiconductor-related curriculum,” Vaishnaw said. The industry has generated these curricula, and all their present requirements, not to talk of future, will be met.
Vaishnaw also highlighted the progress in the Lam Research Semiverse program. It currently operates in 74 universities and has trained 2,600 students this year. “We plan to scale up the Lam Research Semiverse program manifold in the coming years,” he said. This program is one of the important parts of the strategy for the development of semiconductor manpower in India.
He further added that AMB has inaugurated its first global design center in Bengaluru with close to 5,000 engineers and the next phase of the center will be even bigger. Besides, Applied Materials has opened its first India validation center. These two milestones mark increasing capability and ambition building up in India in semiconductor design and validation.
Vaishnaw also highlighted that more than 300,000 engineers are working in the design ecosystem for different companies, around 52,000 of them in advanced chip development. “Our thrust on the advancement of the design ecosystem will result in some big projects in the next few years,” he said. As of now, 13 design ecosystem partners have received financial support under the India semiconductor program. Of those, 4 have received venture capital interest, and 2 received funding from the venture capital industry.
However, it was on the larger implication that the country witnessed due to the setting up of the semiconductor units. “The units will create an exponential effect in more than one sector. The semiconductor units will give a big fillip to the automobile, medical, industrial, transport, and consumer electronics industries,” said Vaishnaw. This, in turn, will create ripples through different verticals in manufacturing.
Finally, Vaishnaw reiterated the prime minister’s dream of democratizing technology access. “The Digital India Mission and the Telecom Mission have successfully brought technology into the hands of common citizens,” he concluded. The latter part of this encompasses the greater goals of India’s semiconductor strategy: embedding technology in daily life and driving holistic progress.
These developments thus place India in a better position to assume leadership in the semiconductor industry with its belt of growing talent pool, state-of-the-art facilities, and strategic partnerships.
ANI
