Semicon India: India Looks to ‘Chip’ the Scales in Its favour By Attracting Opportunities, Investments – News18

The global market is witnessing a significant increase in the demand for semiconductors in recent years. Wider adoption of 5G technology in the telecom sector, increasing expansion of cryptocurrency mining, Blockchain technology, and digitization are increasing the demand for higher Economic Order Quantity (EOQ) of the processing units. The expansion of the semiconductor market has a direct connection to the rising global demand for consumer electronics. Taking note of the opportunities, the Government of India started the programme, ‘SemiconIndia’, to attract large investments to set up the semiconductor industry in the country.

The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) reported the industry generated revenues of $40.7 billion in May 2023 globally, up 1.7% from April 2023. From the previous year until September 2022, the global semiconductor industry was valued at $500-$600 billion and complements the global electronics industry worth approximately $3 trillion. According to the Strategic Investment Research Unit (SIRU), the Indian semiconductor market has been estimated to be worth $23.2 billion and will continue to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17.10% to reach $80.3 billion by 2028.

The Hindu reported, “The setting up of one semiconductor fab requires an investment of anywhere between $3 and $7 billion.”

So far, the government of India approved Micron Technology Inc’s proposal for setting up a semiconductor unit in India with a capital investment of $2.75 billion. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) in the modified scheme kept all forms of chip production under 50% financial support.

Apart from capital investment, the semiconductors production market in India requires an enormous amount of creativity and technical manpower. According to a conservative estimate, India would require approximately 1.5 million skilled professionals for the semiconductor industry by 2026-2027.

From specifications and architecture to physical implementation, verification, manufacturing support, and post-Si testing and qualification, the India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF) report said, “India is home to over 200 semiconductor design and embedded software companies.”

Indian engineers account for around 20% of the world’s semiconductor design workforce, with over one lakh VLSI Design Engineers working in both global semiconductor companies and domestic design service companies.

As a majority of semiconductor engineers worldwide are either Indian or of Indian origin, India possesses the ability to develop into a semiconductor hub in the global market and supply in the severe scarcity of skilled workers worldwide.

As per the estimates, around 20 lakh students graduated in engineering per year. Engineers are contributing in the development of the chip industry as part of global teams and independently both. Prithviraj Chauhan, a senior engineer at Samsung Semiconductor India Research, while sharing his experience about working in the Semiconductor Engineering industry, said, “Working opportunity in the semiconductor industry is one of the best in today’s marketing world, where we work on cutting edge technologies. Semiconductor is the future and it is like the ship which is sailing in this futuristic voyage.”

The Indian semiconductor industry continues to develop at a rapid rate and involves expanding the availability of trained manpower to support the industry, which will bring in a golden opportunity and future for all those who are seeking their career in electronics, mechanical, chemical, and materials engineering sectors.

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