INDIA'S SEMICONDUCTOR JOURNEY

After training, employees were allowed to choose the section of the assembly line they wanted to work in.

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"After that, we were given hands-on, eye-on training, and now we are assisting in the production process," said Deepa.

It is this sense of purpose—of helping build a national capability from the ground up—that has been a big motivator for many people entering this sector. Raunak, son of a farmer from Chapra, Bihar, joined to work on research and product development. Whether it is a fresher like Raunak saying, "I like research and have a passion for innovation", or an experienced professional like Partha De—who returned to India after stints in the Middle East and Europe to become facilities engineering director at Micron—the sentiments are strikingly similar.

For now, India may have found a workaround to its manpower shortage by combining fresh engineering talent with international expertise. But scaling up would require a much more planned approach.

The stakes are very high. Tata’s ambitious semiconductor fabrication plant in Dholera, Gujarat—expected to begin operation later this year—will manufacture chips from scratch. It is among ten projects approved with government support under ISM with a total investment of around ₹1.6 lakh crore.