Manocha also added that prior to the Prime Minister's visit to the US, there could be a couple of announcements, which would put the Indian semiconductor industry impeccably on the track
For the past couple of years, the government of India has been undertaking various efforts to boost the growth of the semiconductor industry. A top executive has recently told the ET that the nation is now furnished with all the criterias to establish itself as a thriving semiconductor industry but it still needs to do a lot of work to reestablish its credibility. According to an exclusive report of the ET, India is now moving very fast to have 100 semiconductor design startups by the end of 2024.
The PLI scheme of $10 billion and various skilling initiatives are playing an important role to increase the strength of the country and helping the country’s growth as a semiconductor nation. In an interaction with the PTI, Ajit Manocha, president and CEO of Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International or SEMI said, "It's now or never (for India in the semiconductor industry). Because it takes years to come to the speed and this is a time to do it. Also if we don't do it now, I think we'll lose credibility forever."
Manocha also added that prior to the Prime Minister's visit to the US, there could be a couple of announcements, which would put the Indian semiconductor industry impeccably on the track. "India, in my opinion, has almost everything you need to have a successful semiconductor industry in the country. We have talent, we have democracy, the largest democracy in the world. We have a market. The population is the market. We are 1.4 billion now bigger than even China. And language is a big plus. Virtually everybody speaks English. Plus, we comply with international laws. So what more do you need, you have everything to really attract industry's equal ecosystem," opined Manocha.
The US based industry association SEMI has 1.3 million international professionals and around 2,500 members to perk-up business models and technology of electronics manufacturing and design. Now, in the past couple of years, both SEMI and India has been working closely to improve semiconductor designing. According to Manocha, the US can play an important role in assisting India in various ways to build its semiconductor ecosystem.
This is mostly because the majority segments of the semiconductor industry are dominated by the US. Both in design and on the equipment side, the US is still a leader. Apart from that, the US is also spearheading the materials side and although Japan is a much bigger leader, the US also has sturdy marketing and leadership.
