The Hindu Business Line : Indian chip designers capable of product ideas: ISA

Bangalore, Feb.19 The semiconductor ecosystem in India has evolved over the years, and this has led to a situation favourable for the manufacture of chips in the country, Mr S. Janakiraman, Chairman, Indian Semiconductor Association (ISA), told Business Line at the sidelines of the ISA Vision Summit.

On being asked when we could expect chip manufacturing foundries to be set up in the country, Mr. Janakiraman said it was difficult to predict, but spelled out three possible ways India could have a foundry. He said it can happen any moment, and within about 18 months of the first being set up, the others would follow suit.

Foundries

He said either the integrated device manufacturers (IDM) like Intel Corp, Advanced Micro Devices Inc or Freescale Semiconductor Inc could set up a foundry, or companies like the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd and UMC can, in addition to China, get their manufacturing in India. Big Indian companies could set up foundries as well, he added.

Value chain

When asked if India would emerge as a manufacturing hub for low-level chips, Mr. Janakiraman said initially the units here would begin with low-level chips and then gradually move up the value chain. He said setting up foundries was very capital intensive, and those that would be set up in India would have to produce for global markets.

Product ideas

Mr Janakiraman said the designing industry in India is knowledge intensive, and would include medium and high complexity work. On being asked which segments of the semiconductor ecosystem have grown in India, Mr. Janakiraman said the designing segment has evolved over the time. The Indian design experts have matured, and instead of doing only designing, as it did in the early stages, they are doing the architecture as well. The Indian units are also getting into planning products because they know what ideas would sell, he said. They are now coming up with product ideas because they have knowledge of the market, he added.

He also said India now has the ability to interact with the fab houses, because they have local offices. The next phase of growth lies in the interface with fab, he added. The electronic design automation segment has also grown with companies such as Synopsys Inc, Cadence Design Systems Inc and others supporting the local design houses.

Mr Jankiraman said the assembly-test-mark-pack and the intellectual property segments have developed well too. These developments have prepared the base for chip manufacturing in India, he added.

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