Greater role for Indian Electronics & Semiconductor Industry in Indian space programs: Dr. K. Radhakrishnan, former chairman, ISRO
IESA address: Ashok Chandak, Chairman, IESA, was of the view that the electronics was critically important for the development of any nation and should also be regard as a strategic value. As a curtain raiser to the Vision Summit 2015, M.N. Vidyashankar, President, IESA would be glad to discuss the following –
- The year gone by: key happenings & what IESA sees in store for 2015
- The Make in India initiative: impact on electronics manufacturing, opportunities, etc.
- Vision Summit: key themes & focus
- 2015: Opportunities focus areas, etc.
- What India requires to become a global hub for excellence
About India Electronics & Semiconductor Association (IESA)
IESA, the premier body for the ESDM industry in the country
IESA is the premier trade body representing the Indian Electronic System Design and Manufacturing ESDM industry and has represented it since 2005. It has close to 250 members – both domestic and multinational enterprises. IESA is committed towards building global awareness for the Indian ESDM industry and supporting its growth through focused initiatives in developing the ecosystem. This is through publishing credible data, networking events and alliances with other international associations. IESA works closely with the Government as a knowledge partner on the sector, both at the centre and at the state level. For more details on IESA, visit www.iesaonline.org
Delivering the theme address (Make in India: Vision to Reality) of the 10th edition of the Vision Summit of the Indian Electronics and Semiconductors Association (IESA) in Bengaluru: Dr. Radhakrishnan chronicled the efforts of the ISRO in indigenizing Indian space programs despite the tremendous challenges and noted that a lot more needed to be achieved. Commending the efforts of the IESA in expanding the scope for the industry, Dr. Radhakrishnan pointed out that every sector has scope for growth. “I am given to understand that the Indian Electronics and Semiconductor Industry does not figure among the top 50 in the world. If India can be one among the top 6 in the world in space technology, why cannot we find a place among the top 50 in electronics? I am sure that we can reach there with the tremendous support being extended to us by the government,” he asserted.Noting that ISRO faced plenty of challenges in its initial days, he observed that ISRO also showed that grit and determination were sufficient to make significant achievements.
MoU with ESSCI
As per the MoU with ESSCI, Electronics Sector Skills Council of India (ESSCI) and Indian Semiconductor and Electronics Association (IESA) will be collaboratively working to support a Centre of Excellence (COE), within an identified institution. The COE will have latest facilities for training students in Semiconductor design, Embedded design and Internet of Things (IOT) as per National Occupational Standards (NOSs). The primary focus will be nurturing the trainer for facilitating sufficient capacity of trained manpower in multiple locations.
MoU with VTU
The MoU with Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU) will harness and sharpen talent required for India to become ESDM manufacturing nation on the large scale. IESA, along with VTU, will enhance its education value chain by providing industry oriented programs and courses so that VTU and IESA together help the ESDM sector to have access to industry-ready talents from VTU and its 200+ constituent colleges and institutes.
MOU with RV- VLSI
IESA also signed another MoU with RV-VLSI Design Center, Bangalore to bridge the gap between academia and industry and the roll out courses, customized for ESDM industry, to meet the talent requirement of ESDM industry,. In its initial stage, the courses will be introduced as a pilot in select academic institutions, which can be rolled out to a larger audience in a later stage.
IESA signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Singapore Semiconductor Industry Association (SSIA) with an objective to establish and develop trade and technical cooperation links between the electronics and semiconductor industry of both countries.
Recommendations for collaboration areas in ESDM sector between IESA & SSIA:
A. Business to business opportunities:
• Opportunity for Singapore companies to create support ecosystem for setting up fabrication units in India
• Investment in ATMP units in India
• Opportunity for Indian companies to help Singapore scale up design talent
• Singapore companies to invest in electronic component ecosystem of India
• Indian companies to set up operations in Singapore to explore emerging South East Asian markets
• Singapore companies to explore India as a competitive location for Hitech competencies.
B. Government to government opportunities:
• Joint fund for R&D
• Partnership between Sector Skill Council for standardization in skill development
• Collaboration for implementing standards in area of electronics design, manufacturing
• Karnataka will emerge as ESDM hub: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah today called upon the Indian Electronics and Semiconductors industry to develop the state into a hub for the Electronics System Design & Manufacturing (ESDM) and extended complete support to the investors. “I want Karnataka to become the hottest market globally for ESDM… Karnataka will support every initiative of the private sector. We have shown that in the IT sector by actively collaborating with the private players. In similar way, it is our wish to create an ecosystem to foster the growth of the ESDM in this state,” he said in his address presiding over the 10th edition of the Vision Summit of the Indian Electronics and Semiconductors Association (IESA) here. He noted that Karnataka initially planned to capture 10% per cent of the ESDM market in India to meet local requirements and cater to the global market going forward. “The government will take the lead role in this. I want the private sector to contribute by bridging the industry-academia gap by providing the latest industry inputs. Also, we need to make R&D an attractive proposition to students. This will help us the best of the talent to the ESDM,” he added.
According to him, Karnataka was focusing on ESDM because it was considered as the next sunrise sector. “There is no denying the fact that ESDM and manufacturing are the next big things and will play a major role in strengthening the economy. Electronics is integral to our lives every day and we need to keep pace with the market developments. Indian startups have already made their presence felt in the market. We need more such initiatives,” he asserted.
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Manish Muthal, Vice President, Marketing, Planning & Architecture, Seagate Technology
Key Note address on Leapfrogging into the Innovation Era
“Historically, India was strong in manufacturing, but other countries overtook us. One of the reasons responsible for India to lag behind is that we did not continue to innovate like other nations. However, the government has taken the right step now. In terms of innovation, we are now headed in the direction of 3-D printing, Artificial Intelligence, DNA sequencing, Robotics, personalised medicine and so on. Going forward, all these technologies will interconnect. We need to continue to focus on innovation, as demographics will drive growth.
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States – The Fulcrum of ESDM Policy Implementation
Session Chair: Mohandas Pai, Chairman, Manipal Group
We were leaders in electronics at the time of Independence, unfortunately, we killed it because of bad policy, lack of implementation and foresight. We have observed that world over ESDM developed around requirements of local industry. To foster ESDM, we need an active component manufacturing base and assembly is a large part of this.
The situation has now changed. In the US, fab plants have come down… The semiconductor industry has diversified. India can aspire for leadership in this sector. We have adequate talent in design, but we lack in infrastructure (high quality), supply chain efficiency and other important aspects. We expect the states to contribute from their perspectives.
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Keynote Speaker: Gururaj “Desh” Deshpande, President and Chairman, Sparta Group LLC
Innovate affordable solutions / products for Indian market: Gururaj “Desh”
Emphasizing the need to innovate for the domestic market, Gururaj “Desh” Deshpande, President and Chairman, Sparta Group LLC, today exhorted entrepreneurs to adopt a multidisciplinary approach to develop affordable and scalable products and solutions for the large customer base in India.
Desh pointed out that the innovative products developed for the local market will have application for the global market as well. “It (Innovative products) will be applicable to Africa, South America and the US (smaller pieces of population within US). Just think what you can do for the local market whenever you think of innovation,” he added.
Noting that the policies in India were investor friendly, he said that the effective implementation of the policies is key to realizing the dream of “Make in India” plan. “Wherever manufacturing has prospered world over, it is supported by an ecosystem. For instance, in the US, normally one company takes the leadership, who will then provide an umbrella to other innovative little companies to build on. I am hoping whether it is healthcare or any other sector, there is an ecosystem for smaller companies to come in and innovate as no single company can risk investments into R&D,” he maintained.
Further, stressing on innovation for the local market, he pointed out that entrepreneurs could explore the Indian farm sector. For instance, Indian farmers do not get their soil tested to determine the crops they needed to grow, and there are plenty such opportunities for innovators to step in.
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Chief Guest: Dr. Raman Singh, Hon. Chief Minister, Govt. of Chhattisgarh
Chhattisgarh has become the latest destination for investments – every investor has multiplied projects and nobody has returned unhappy. The Chhattisgarh government has released its new policy for IT and electronics. In Raipur, an area of about 70 acres has been earmarked to build an electronic manufacturing park. We are expecting an investment of Rs 500 crore in this park.
We are one of the youngest states in the country and despite being only 14-years-old, Chhattisgarh has made an impressive progress in every area of development. We have a better work culture and better industrial environment. The people of the state are very hardworking and honest. We are in the process of creating an ecosystem for industry in the state. Infrastructure, air and telecom connectivity, new electronics, IT policy, single window clearance policy, we have everything for our investors.
The new five-year industrial policy (2014-19) has been approved and we are keen on promoting PPP with the private sector.We provide power supply 24/7 to industries, farmers as well as domestic consumers. No other state has been able to achieve this.
Madhya Pradesh announces fab policy
(Hari Ranjan Rao, Secretary to Chief Minister, Science & Technology, Public Service Management & Tourism, Govt. of Madhya Pradesh)
In a significant impetus to the “Make in India” plan, the Madhya Pradesh government has approved the first ever fab policy by any state in the country. The policy will focus on Analog FAB and the chief minister is in discussion with investors from the US for the first fab plant.
“We passed this policy three days ago at the Cabinet meeting. We are offering facilities that are on par with those offered to leading fab manufacturing in countries like Taiwan. The MP government is looking for investment in excess of US$ 500 million. More than 200 acres of land has been earmarked for the purpose. Free land up to 75 acres will also be offered to potential investors.We will offer dedicated 24×7 power supply from separate grids at internationally competitive rates for 10 years. It means the power tariff will not alter for 10 years once we freeze the project. The same will be applicable to water supply as well. By doing this what we mean is that if Taiwan offers power supply at x tariff, we will charge the same tariff. We want to make MP the destination for investments in Fab,” he said.
In addition to these, the MP government has assured dedicated road connectivity to airport; a trade zone at airport; chemical fire-fighting facility and also extend support to units like ultrapure gas plants.
The government will reimburse the Building Shell of the fab unit apart from reimbursing the training and expatriate cost for 5 years. A policy support for housing, schooling, medical facilities around the fab units has also been evolved.
Session on “Semiconductor Fab – The Opportunity, Challenges & Accelerators”
Session Chair: SubramaniKengeri, Vice President, Global, Design Solutions, GLOBALFOUNDRIES
Semiconductors exist everywhere; we see a robust foundry opportunity, it is growing faster than electronics; as overall ecosystem is strengthening. Equipment is a greater proportion of overall fab costs. Lithography accounts for 30%, Etch 20%, OVD 15%, – labour cost is less.Therefore, the partnership to success are exploratory research and collaborative innovation involving the academia and R&D labs
Foundry business is an expensive proposition, as it needs a lot of capex and needs a long run to take off.Nevertheless; semiconductor is a key enabler of growth for a country like India.
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SurajRengarajan, Director & India CTO, Applied Materials India
Economic value add, ecosystem value add and strategic value add are the drivers for semiconductors in India. We should periodically assess the growth drivers and make course correction.The R&D investments are in semiconductors aare high and the country has to be ready for the same
Hari Ranjan Rao, Secretary to Hon. Chief Minister, Science & Technology, Public Service Management & Tourism, Govt. of Madhya Pradesh
It makes sense to go for complete value chain in electronics manufacturing; we have many of the requirements needed to set up a plant, but the crucial fab is missing. I am confident that the Government, industry and academia will come together. The Centre is already bringing all the stakeholders together.
Raja Manickam, Founder, Tessolve
We have strong design community and talent. Once we have a fab (which is a huge financial commitment), all other aspects will fall into place. In 10 years, we will have a unique leverage for fab business in India.If any global foundry was present in India, several local companies would be offering services to it by now. That would have led to proliferation of local business and the ecosystem would have been in place by now.
Krishnan Shrinivasan, Sr. Director, Lam Research
A deep talent pool available in India, but there is a lack of a comprehensive ecosystem – both policy as well as physical. The customs and import duties high. There is no good exit policy for firms to exit business. Labour policy has to be liberal. It also needs a collaborative market to thrive.
MeenuSarin, director – VLSI Consultancy and Hon Asst Secretary, Singapore Semiconductor Industry Association
We need a special talent base once fabs come into place. In Singapore – the industry, government and academia were brought together to create a way forward for the semiconductor industry. In Singapore, wee tweaked education to help create talent pool. We have reworked policies to create the ecosystem.India has a large domestic market, and certainly there is a scope for semiconductor fab.
Session on “Building the ESDM Start-up Ecosystem”
Dr. D PremchandraSagar, Vice Chairman, Dayananda Sagar Institutions
Tier I institutes do not add long numbers to the technical manpower required by the manufacturing sector; therefore, we need to focus on tier ii institutes if “Make in India” dream has to happen. There are large number of technical schools, which need to be part of this plan. What concerns is how we move from job seekers to become job enablers? We are creating an ecosystem to promote entrepreneurship at our institute. We intend to embed electronics industry as well as ICT at the level of undergraduate level, and go beyond design and productization.
