Building a chip manufacturing workforce: India’s higher-education imperatives
This paper is authored by Arkalgud Ramaprasad, Chetan Singai and Thant Syn, ORF.
This brief tackles the challenge of mobilising India’s higher education system to build the workforce for India’s ambitious chip manufacturing vision. It argues that the challenge must be addressed by the manufacturers, the states in which they are located, the neighbouring states, and the country, considering the expanding global marketplace for such a workforce. Utilising a word-map to engineer plausible solutions, the brief offers pathways for workforce development for chip manufacturing that are effective, redesigning those that are not effective, and engineering new ones that should be innovative.
The use of semiconductors is expanding exponentially across the world. Semiconductors are critical to national security and the economy, as well as in projecting geopolitical and geoeconomic heft. They are also critical for modern defence, enabling sophisticated weapons, surveillance technologies, and communication systems. For instance, enabling access to secure, advanced semiconductors for defence applications can help avoid the consequences of dependency on other countries and export restrictions. Additionally, control over semiconductor technology has become a tool of geopolitical leverage. The global semiconductor race is thus reshaping alliances, trade policies, and innovation trajectories across the world.
India, like many other countries, has embarked on a national, large-scale, long-term effort to manufacture semiconductor chips. The financial outlays for the semiconductor industry is a testimony to India’s commitment to build a robust semiconductor ecosystem. At the global semiconductor supply chain meet in September 2024, Prime Minister Narendra Modi reiterated his commitment to the country’s semiconductor mission, stating, “Whether it is mobile manufacturing, electronics, or semiconductors, our focus is clear—we want to build a world that doesn’t stop or pause in times of crisis but keeps moving forward.” He announced an allocation of a special research fund of ₹1 trillion through the Anusandhan National Research Foundation to foster innovation in cutting-edge semiconductor technology.
This paper can be accessed here.
This paper is authored by Arkalgud Ramaprasad, Chetan Singai and Thant Syn, ORF.
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