At SEMICON India 2024, the President and CEO of Tata Electronics, Dr. Randhir Thakur, spoke on the trends that have been set by India in the manufacture of semiconductors. He stressed on the need for cooperation, ecosystem creation and strategic partnerships; shared Tata’s mission of developing a strong semiconductor industry as the pillar for digital India. Following are the key insights.
The day of March 13th, 2024, will be remembered as a great landmark in the technological advancement of India with the initiation of its first commercial semiconductor fabrication unit in Tulera, Gujarat and the inauguration of first native Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Testing OSAT plant in Jagi Road, Assam. These projects have been cleared swiftly by the Government of India and this has now become a new world record in terms of efficiency indicating the readiness of India for the growth of a strong semiconductor industry. These initiatives have been successful and this is attributed to the efforts of the stakeholders that have been coordinated by the India Semiconductor Mission. These are developments that mark a big leap towards India’s dream of becoming self-reliant in semiconductor, which is an important pillar of the digital ecosystem.
Semiconductor fab is complex and capital-intensive business, which means that the right technology, talent, and capital are critical in the success of the business. Currently, Tata Electronics has a strategic cooperation with Taiwan’s Powerchip Semiconductor to obtain the technology platform of 28-nanometer to 110-nanometer nodes. These technological nodes are required to serve growing markets including the AI, automotive, data storage and communication markets which are rapidly expanding across the world.
This partnership will help India greatly in its ability to ramp up production of complex semiconductor chips, thereby keeping India relevant on the global market. However, owning the technology is not sufficient; semiconductor manufacturing is a team affair that needs more than one thousand players in the field.
The process of chip making is not as easy as assembling the components; it is a more complicated one that needs a holistic structure. There are 11 ecosystem areas which are important for the efficient functioning of semiconductor fab. These include Fab design, Construction, Semiconductor equipment, Materials, Substrates, Masks, Chemicals and gases, AI-led fab design, Automation, Design IP, and Social infrastructure and logistics.
These ecosystem areas are like a cricket game team where a team has 11 players and each of them has his own and specific role. Like every player in the cricket field, who contributes in his or her own way to win the match, each region of the semiconductor ecosystem contributes in its own way towards producing world-class chips.
Semiconductor industry will act as a building block for India’s digital economy. The domestic semiconductor manufacturing scale has become an urgent strategic task for developed countries and emerging economies, including India, to become independent of chip supply in fields like AI, 5G, and self-driving cars, among others.
But the semiconductor industry is not easy and requires extra-ordinary talent for cracking it. It is for this reason that Tata Electronics is in the process of collaborating with the government, the industry, and academia with the aim of establishing a talent pipeline that can support the government of India’s vision of the semiconductor industry.
Perhaps one of the most important benefits of building a semiconductor ecosystem is the employment creation factor. Tata Electronics plans to create more than 50000 direct employment opportunities in the semiconductor manufacturing division. In addition, every job in the semiconductor fab industry generates employment ripple effect and it has been estimated that each microconnector job could generate up to ten related jobs in the economy.
This will not only mean new jobs for the engineers but will also spur economic growth of the states where the semiconductor fabs are to be set up, especially Gujarat and Assam.
The social responsibility of Tata Electronics is in consonance with the Tata Group where the community has always been at the core of the business. This will help in ensuring that the communities surrounding these semiconductor hubs get to benefit from the developments and evolution that these projects come with.
According to the Tata Group’s founder, Jamshedji Tata, the community is at the core of everything we do. With this belief, we intend to improve not only the Indian semiconductor market but also the lives of people in the areas of operation.
The journey started with semiconductor mission is not only about manufacturing chips, but it is about positioning India in the global digital economy. Industry-academia collaboration, talent development, and innovation along with strong leadership and strategic partnerships can help India emerge as an international player in the semiconductor industry and build a better and progressive future.
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