Ashok Chandak, President of SEMI India, in an interview with ET Edge Insights, outlined how India is building a strong semiconductor ecosystem by combining its deep chip-design talent, software capabilities, supportive government policies, and expanding manufacturing infrastructure. He emphasised that India must move beyond providing design services to creating indigenous semiconductor products, brands, startups, and complete capabilities spanning chips, cloud infrastructure, and industry applications

The partnership comes at a time when India is investing heavily in building a self-reliant semiconductor ecosystem. As new chip manufacturing and packaging projects take shape across the country, the demand for skilled engineers and industry-focused research continues to grow. This collaboration is expected to help bridge that gap by creating opportunities for students, researchers and industry professionals.

Vinay Balkrishna Shenoy, Managing Director of Infineon Technologies India, does not reach for the numbers most executives lead with, headcount, campus size, chip volumes shipped. He goes straight to a harder question. How much of what India designs, does India actually own? Depth, in his telling, means intellectual property, system-level innovation, and an ecosystem that extends well past the fabrication floor, including materials, design tools, startups, academia, and the pull of domestic demand from automotive, energy, and digital infrastructure. “India has a unique advantage here,” he argues, pointing to that demand as leverage few other geographies can match.

Startup Policy Forum (SPF) on Tuesday launched The Semicon Consortium, a new industry alliance bringing together semiconductor startups, investors and global technology companies to support the implementation of the government’s ₹1.27 lakh crore India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) 2.0 and strengthen India’s chip ecosystem.