'Missed the bus for semiconductors...' MoS Rajeev Chandrasekhar slams past govts ahead of Semicon India
By Team Newsable | First Published Jul 27, 2023, 6:33 PM ISTMoS Rajeev Chandrasekhar highlighted India's progress in the electronics and semiconductor ecosystem under PM Narendra Modi's leadership. He discussed the missed opportunities in the past and emphasized the government's determination to make India a major player in the global electronics and semiconductor supply chain
Union Minister of State for Electronics & IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Thursday lamented how India missed the bus for semiconductors due to previous governments' lack of political vision and strategic clarity. Interacting with the media ahead of the second edition of the SemiconIndia Conference, which is set to begin in Gujarat's Gandhinagar, the minister highlighted the government's efforts under PM Narendra Modi's leadership to strengthen India's electronics ecosystem and make it one of the fastest-growing electronics manufacturers globally.
“India has missed the bus repeatedly on electronics and semiconductors. There was a lack of strategic and political vision and a big dose of incompetence. Fairchild semiconductors, which is the precursor to Intel, came to India in 1957 for a packaging unit and we chased them away. That packaging unit went on to become Asia’s largest packaging hub in Malaysia. We set up a fab for silicon and germanium transistors that had shut down. India’s major VLSI facility, Semi-Conductor Laboratory (SCL), perished, as a mysterious fire in 1989 halted production until 1997. In 1987, India was just two years behind the latest chip manufacturing technology. Today, we are 12 generations behind -- this is how far behind as a nation on semiconductors," the minister said.
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The minister emphasized India's significant semiconductor potential and the determination of the government to harness it.
Chandrasekhar mentioned the transformative role of semiconductors in today's tech-driven world, with India emerging as a major player in the global electronics and semiconductors supply chain.
The minister also expressed optimism about India's current investments and collaborations with major semiconductor companies. "It has been 19 months since we set the ball rolling in the semiconductor ecosystem. There was a lack of political vision and strategies, and there were incompetencies and missed opportunities for decades. This has held India back from semiconductors. Today, we can achieve in the coming Techade what some neighbouring nations took 30 years and $200 billion, and still failed to achieve," the minister said.
The government is actively supporting startups in the semiconductor industry and working on a comprehensive curriculum to nurture talent. The Semicon India conference will witness the participation of prominent names in the semiconductor industry and will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi.
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