THE TECHADE TAKES SHAPE

India's semiconductor push is entering a new phase—creating a talent, research and investment ecosystem that produces not just chips, but indigenous technology and intellectual property

- BY K. SUNIL THOMAS

It is called a 'chip,' though it is thinner than the favourite potato chip you snack on. And, what India's entrepreneurs and workforce choose to do with it in the coming years could well shape the country's destiny.

This is no exaggeration.

Innovations in circuitry, chip design and packaging in recent years have made semiconductors—the accurate term for chips—the invisible engines of the modern world. They power your smartphone, the car you drive, the television you watch, and even the washing machine you use.

Today, a small car can contain more than 500 chips. In an electric vehicle, that number can go up to 5,000, managing everything from motor control and power conversion to the touchscreen infotainment system. As the world evolves into a geek's dream (or nightmare), semiconductors are becoming the foundation of a brave new era of connected devices and machine intelligence. They act as the ‘brains’ that power industrial machinery, medical devices, data centres, power grids, radars, drones and missiles.

Most importantly, advanced chips form the backbone of the massive computing power driving breakthroughs in artificial intelligence (AI). They have become so strategically important that countries like the US have imposed restrictions on the export of certain high-end AI chips.

As semiconductors become the most powerful pawn in the new global strategic order, India, too, has recognised the importance of this technology. The country abandoned its ‘import-only’ approach with the launch of the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) in late 2021—an ambitious effort to transform India from a bystander to a serious player in the global chip race.