“The dream of being a Chip hub”

News-India is aiming to manufacture silicon semiconductor chip, it has recently made efforts to set up a fabrication plant with the help of Taiwan, which is a leader in the Chip making industry. 

Have there been any initiatives for setting up Chip making Industry in the past  

NASSCOM had in the past tried to set up ecosystem for establishing chip making industry in Andhra Pradesh  

What are the factors that make any place an ideal location for chip making Industry 

Availability of water, sand (raw material for making silicon ingots), connectivity to all three major transport means (air, rail, road) and availability of human resource (technical experts). 

What other factor should be taken care of while setting up the foundation of chip making industry 

Although establishment of Chip making Industry is an important step, but what is needed is a system on a chip ecosystem (SoCs). 

SoCs is a combination of chip making, designing and intellectual property.  

Intellectual Property will enable India to take complete advantage of chip making capability, in the absence of which it will just remain a mere manufacturer of base material. 

Way forward- 

Government needs to take definite steps to enable India to make a mark in niche chip making industry. Also, it needs to be ensured that the industry keeps growing even after government support is withdrawn after some years. 

Source– This post is based on the article “The dream of being a Chip hub” published in The Hindu on 13th Dec 2021.