00:00Today I am joined by Mr. Manoj Kumar who is the Vice-Chancellor of Gati Shakti Vishwa Vidyalaya and we
00:04are going to discuss the semiconductor scenario in this country, what was the growth of semiconductor and how we are
00:10planning to grow further. Welcome to U.T. Bharat sir.
00:13Thank you, thank you so much.
00:15So sir, just as India is aiming to become a global semiconductor powerhouse, so just wanted to know from you
00:22that how far we travelled as of now and what kind of talent pool is required to achieve this growth,
00:30where are we currently?
00:31In any industry, it is the policies, the capital and most importantly the people who make the industry successful. In
00:42semiconductor industry, as India is striving to become a semiconductor nation, having started our journey five years back with India
00:50Semiconductor Mission 1.0, wherein we made the provision not only 76,000 crore rupees to set up fab to
00:58have design-linked incentive,
01:00but we had also set up a target that time, that we shall train 85,000 people in the semiconductor
01:07area over a period of six years. However, we have achieved our target within a period of four years itself.
01:13Now, as India is aspiring to strengthen our semiconductor ecosystem, to expand the value proposition across various segments of the
01:21semiconductor ecosystem,
01:23ISM 2.0 that was launched with an outlay of 1.27 lakh crore rupees, has six important pillars. Amongst
01:32the six important pillars, of course, the pillar on chip design, the pillar on equipment and materials,
01:39on building more fabs, of strengthening ATMP, of strengthening advanced R&D, but the sixth and the most important pillar
01:49is on talent development and with a goal to train additional 1 lakh people in the semiconductor sector.
01:54We all know it is people who drive innovation. It is people, when they perform, create the industry and the
02:02desirable outcomes. Therefore, the focus on talent development is not only essential, but is absolutely critical for our further progress
02:11in the semiconductor sector.
02:12In India currently, what do you think, what are the biggest skill set gaps we are facing currently as compared
02:20to the global scenario, which are countries ahead of us and what's the talent gap or the skill gap you
02:26see there?
02:27I will give some specific examples. First, something very great about India is that if we look today in the
02:35chip design aspect, out of 100 people in the world, 20 will be from India.
02:40So, India constitutes very significantly to chip design all over the world. We have excellent chip designers. However, we did
02:48not have semiconductor manufacturing in the country.
02:50Therefore, in terms of skilling, the people who will handle the equipment, the high precision equipment, whether for lithography, whether
02:57for working on the wafer, on several aspects of the entire semiconductor manufacturing chain, including on packaging, assembly, testing, marking.
03:05So, we do not have trained people on that. When we are setting up our first fab and recently the
03:12trend project that we set up, many of the companies actually have resorted to training many of the engineers who
03:18have been selected abroad.
03:20Some have gone to Taiwan, some have gone to Malaysia and at different places. This model cannot forever continue, for
03:26example.
03:27And therefore, we have to build the talent supply within the country. Another aspect that has happened in India, while
03:34we have been very good designers, but as you can understand, the design happens, the first part of the design
03:42is understanding what product to be built and what the requirement of the product will be, what the specification of
03:49the product can be.
03:50And then you make a design according to a specification. So, we need people who can think at the system
03:55level, that how a new product five years down the line will be needed, what will be their specification.
04:00Then, of course, we have a great talent who can design. So, we need, that is a skill gap in
04:06the country currently, that people who understand system, people who understand new product, people who understand product design.
04:12So, that is another, because that is where value proposition lies. Similarly, the specialized chemicals and gases that are needed
04:20for the semiconductor manufacturing sector or the ultra-pear water that is needed, that is another aspect.
04:26So, there are, these are the kind of, or in the packaging, how we can do advanced most 3D packaging
04:32with enough packaging density to ensure.
04:34So, these are parts of the value chain. Each of them is important. It is not only semiconductor chip design
04:41that is important. It is not the manufacturing alone that is important, but each aspect in the value chain is
04:46important.
04:47And as we aspire to have 1 lakh people trained under India Semiconductor Mission 2.0, the goal is to
04:54train people across the entire value chain so that India can be a leader in the entire ecosystem.
05:00In these years, we have done quite a robust growth of semiconductor industry, but still, do you feel that there
05:08are a few policy gap remains, which, if we work on them, there may be many global companies, which are
05:16aspiring to come to India, they can come to India and build a strong support base for the semiconductor in
05:21the country?
05:23Till 5 years back, there was no policy. When we launched India Semiconductor Mission 1.0, for the first time,
05:30we looked at setting up fab, silicon fab, distillate fab, compound semiconductor fab, design-linked incentive, to make sure that
05:38semiconductor manufacturing, design-related activities in India picks up steam.
05:42Following the success, because we now have 12 projects already set up, out of which 5 of the projects are
05:50now into commercial production zone.
05:52That means, the success story of ISM 1.0 is for everybody in the world to see.
05:57We are now looking through ISM 2.0 to do more to create all the aspects of the semiconductor value
06:03chain, that is chip design, equipment and materials, more fabs, ATMP and O-SET-related facilities, advanced R&D, talent
06:10development.
06:11When we look at that, few things that shall happen. Firstly, at the minimum, we shall be able to look
06:19at 70% at least of our imports that are happening in the semiconductor business.
06:25In semiconductor segment, you know, in the absence of any semiconductor manufacturing so far, 5 years back, we have been
06:32importing the semiconductor chips from all over the world,
06:36for which our import bill has been almost similar to or equal to oil import.
06:41If we did not take this action of semiconductor manufacturing, in future, who knows, semiconductor would have become our number
06:47one import.
06:48So, first goal is, with this mission, can we eliminate 70% of our import? That will be a great
06:54saving.
06:55Secondly, when we build this semiconductor manufacturing and chips in India, with their quality established, quality will create credibility with
07:04our cost infrastructure,
07:06with our scaling of the large semiconductor plants and the large semiconductor talent that shall be made available.
07:12We shall be able to offer to the world chips that are high in quality, low in cost and for
07:19the entire world.
07:20And that is the time frame, around maybe 2032, around 2035, I am looking at that kind of a time
07:26frame,
07:27whether, when, India shall become one of the major exporters of the semiconductor chips in the world.
07:33It was nice talking to you, sir. Thank you so much for taking out time for E.T. Bharat.
07:37Thank you. Thank you so much. Namaste.
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