India Must Build Semiconductor Manufacturing, Materials And R&D Capabilities: SCL Director General

New Delhi, Oct 31 (KNN) India needs to strengthen its capabilities across the semiconductor value chain, including manufacturing, materials, research and specialised skills, to reduce dependence on foreign suppliers and build a competitive domestic ecosystem, said Kamaljeet Singh, Director General, Semi-Conductor Laboratory (SCL), Mohali.

Speaking at an event, Singh said India has established a significant presence in semiconductor design but continues to rely on overseas suppliers for critical inputs such as electronic design automation (EDA) tools, according to a reported by The Hindu.

He identified technology, talent, resources, time, acceptability and capital as key challenges facing India's ambition to emerge as a technological power.

Strengthening Domestic Supply Chains

Singh said India needs to develop capabilities in chip design and fabrication, alongside the supporting supply chain for manufacturing equipment, raw materials, chemicals, gases and packaging materials.

He noted that semiconductor supply chains remain concentrated in a few countries, making access to these critical inputs particularly important given India's substantial requirements.

The India Semiconductor Mission has supported efforts to build domestic capabilities in the sector, he said.

Under its first phase, an investment of Rs 76,000 crore was made, with 12 projects approved. Five projects are operational, while another is expected to become operational.

The mission's second phase focuses on six pillars, including chip design, manufacturing, materials and machinery, research and development, and skill development.

SCL Promotes Access To Chip Design Education

Singh also highlighted SCL's efforts to make semiconductor design education more accessible through open-source tools.

The laboratory has integrated its process design kit (PDK) with open-source tools, enabling students to learn chip design without relying on commercial EDA software.

SCL supplied more than 50,000 chips to strategic and commercial sectors over the preceding two to three years, with no reported field failures. These included chips used in space programmes such as Chandrayaan-3.

Advanced Packaging And Chiplets To Shape Future

Singh noted that the semiconductor industry is increasingly focusing on integrating different types of chips as conventional transistor scaling becomes more challenging.

Advanced packaging and chiplet-based designs are emerging as important approaches to improving computing capabilities.

Future semiconductor development will also involve technologies such as photonics, quantum computing and power-aware design, requiring closer collaboration among academic institutions, industry players and start-ups.

(KNN Bureau)