India’s vision to chip in as a global semiconductor powerhouse

India’s ambitious vision to become a global semiconductor hub is gaining momentum with rapid establishment of multiple manufacturing plants across the country. Following the setup of a Chip Fabrication Unit in Dholera, Gujarat, four testing and assembly plants in Sanand and Morigaon (Gujarat and Assam respectively), a new unit in Maharashtra has been approved for setup.   

With such investments and initiatives, India is envisioning a strategic position in the global landscape to arrive as a semiconductor powerhouse. This is further fueled by its National Electronics Policy and recent budget announcements on increased allocation of investments as well as incentive schemes (like SPECS) to boost the semiconductor ecosystem.   

India’s workforce readiness to compete in global arena  

India accounts for around 20% of the world’s semiconductor design workforce. Considering the increasing demand from tech, data storage and automotive industries, the nation needs a strong, skilled workforce of over 1.2 million professionals across all the stages (from design to delivery to lifecycle management) of the manufacturing process. Apart from indigenous semiconductor plants and systems, several GCCs and chipmakers in the space are actively hiring niche talent. Over 100,000 VLSI (Very Large Scale Integration) engineers are already deployed across enterprises as well.  The increasing demand compels us to race against time to address skill gaps and dynamically develop semiconductor-native talent.   

Understanding the global semiconductor value chain and mapping training requirements  

Moving up the semiconductor value chain requires a systematic approach, specifically when we as a nation are eyeing end-to-end deliverables. Quick research would reveal numbers on the weightage of each process in a value chain on a global scale:  

Semiconductor design – 50%  
Front-end wafer fabrication – 24%  
Pre-competitive research – 20%  
Backend operations including electronic design automation, ATMP, and more – 6%  

So, we need to prepare professionals across the deliverables spectrum. This means there will be vacancies across job roles such as semiconductor process engineers, VLSI design engineers, packaging and testing engineers, R&D scientists, supply-chain managers, environmental engineers and more. Collectively, these job roles will ensure a range of operations starting from designing and optimizing chip manufacturing processes and working on analog and digital circuit designs to developing new semiconductors and balancing sustainability goals.   

Aligning curriculum with industry requirements  

One of the pressing concerns we face when we talk about skill gaps – not just in the semiconductor space but with respect to emerging technologies in general – is that over 1.5 million engineers graduate from across India every year. However, a major chunk of them remains unemployable. This statistic has the potential to stall India’s ambitions in the semiconductor space. So, fixing the issue goes back to setting the foundation right.   

With increased focus on STEM, balanced tutoring of technical and non-technical skills in colleges and universities, and updated program curriculum and content on semiconductors, we can make engineers readily employable. As far as developing domain-specific competencies is concerned, we have news that over 300 colleges and universities will offer semiconductor education to aspirants. Besides, the AICTE (AIl India Council for Technical Education) has also announced two new programs on Diploma in IC Manufacturing and B.Tech In VLSI Design Technology.  Semiconductor GCCs setup in India are also tying up with institutions such as IISc and IIT to offer certification programs that are aligned with their specific requirements.   

The road ahead  

Like we witnessed changes at the policy-level with respect to setting up semiconductor manufacturing plants, we are witnessing a revolution in the academic side of things as well.  As a tech enthusiast and as someone who runs a talent transformation company, I’m an advocate of nurturing futuristic competencies in a swift timeframe to accelerate India’s visibility on a global pedestal.   

With experiential learning initiatives, equal attention to professional skills such as leadership, project management, communication, problem solving, critical thinking and more, we can churn out qualified professionals who don’t just hold a degree but possess the competencies to land a job as well.  The parallel addressing of skill gaps while the plants are being built will act as the necessary time-frame to bridge any talent shortage we have projected in numbers. I’m excited to pen another writeup again after a few months mentioning the skill gaps we’ve filled and the initiatives we’ve implemented in this regard.   

[Author is the CEO of UNext Learning]
 

Ambrish Sinha