IIT-Madras has invited the semiconductor industry to set up a prototype fabrication unit on its campus. A consortium of companies would need to invest $25 million upfront and ₹7.5 crore a year to run it. IIT-Madras will put up the unit. In return, the industry can get its workers trained here.
There is scope to provide research-oriented training to about 100 people a year and operational training to 500. The institute also intends to set up a ‘design support system’ to offer designers advanced CAD tools and help them interface with fab units abroad (to validate their designs).
The country currently has a shortage of trained manpower to operate semiconductor fabrication units. The government has received three applications for the setting up of semiconductor fab units.
Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar said recently, in the backdrop of the Semicon India 2022 event at Bengaluru, that India will consume $70-80 billion worth of semiconductors to manufacture electronics products worth $300 billion by 2026.
Semiconductor manufacturing is complex and technology-intensive, entailing huge capital investment, long gestation and payback periods, the Ministry of Electronics and IT told Parliament in response to a question.
“India is at the formative stage of developing its semiconductor supply chain ecosystem. The manufacturing of semiconductor chips will depend on technology, capacity and availability of the semiconductor supply chain ecosystem,” it said.