EVERYONE SAYS 'CHINA PLUS ONE'; THE 'ONE' SHOULD BE INDIA

A FORMER SECRETARY of the Defence Research and Development Organisation, Vijay Kumar Saraswat has played a pivotal role in developing indigenous missile systems such as Prithvi, Dhanush, Prahaar and Agni-5, as well as India's ballistic missile defence system, the fighter jet Tejas, and the nuclear submarine INS Arihant.

- NILADRY SARKAR

He also launched the Photonics Valley Corporation in Telangana to advance silicon photonics, crucial for 5G and supercomputing, and has led India's microprocessor development for smart cities and internet of things. In an exclusive interview with THE WEEK, Saraswat, 75, speaks about the past, present and future of the Indian semiconductor sector. Excerpts:

Q/ For long, unclear trade policies, high import tariffs, an unfavourable tax regime, limited domestic demand and overall governmental inaction ensured that we do not have any commercial semiconductor fabs. How does the Narendra Modi government plan to change this?

A/ The entire commercial electronics sector in India is assembly-based. We import television kits, assemble them here, and sell them. The same applies to most electronic products. So, semiconductor imports—chips, integrated circuits, devices—were largely limited to critical sectors and did not penetrate the commercial sector. The government found it difficult to invest when demand was so low. But it was a catch-22 situation. We believed that the availability of semiconductors in the country would spur demand. That is why, in 2014, the government of India decided to make upfront investments and involve the private sector in manufacturing to compete with global technologies.

Q/ Despite being greenlit, several semiconductor fab projects—including those by the JP Group and Tower Semiconductor—did not materialise during Modi's first term. Will projects based by the India Semiconductor Mission meet the same fate?