Electronic manufacturing boosts India as a chip destination

NEW DELHI: With global electronic majors like Nokia, Alcatel, Flextronics and LG committing investment in the electronics manufacturing sector within the country, India Inc.'s chip manufacturing aspirations are likely to get a boost.






"There are a lot of people who wonder why India has not gained momentum when it comes to manufacturing of microprocessors. But now global companies have started to make their manufacturing presence felt in this region. This can act as a tipping point and encourage chip manufacturing by big players in the region as well," informed director IPDF — India at STMicroelectronics Pvt Ltd Vivek Sharma.





Under the present scenario, there are only a handful of organizations involved in semiconductor manufacturing within the region including Semiconductor Complex Ltd (SCL), Continental Device India Ltd (CDIL) and ITI.





Now with telecom focused vendors like Nokia or Flextronics chipping in with investments on the electronic hardware side, semiconductor players would start to perceive India as a favorable destination for high-quality fabrication purpose as well.





Electronic ecosystem





As more and more global companies commit themselves on the manufacturing front, experts in the industry feel that this will lead the country to the creation of a feasible electronic manufacturing ecosystem.





"When we talk about manufacturing, it is very important for sectors like semiconductors to have some local sourcing especially with electronic manufacturing starting to happen in India. This will lead the country towards creation of a proper manufacturing ecosystem. Global chip manufacturers will then be more confident to set up fabrication units in the sub-continent," Sharma explained.





Electronic manufacturing when done in full swing would help in clearing up infrastructure and logistics related problems and would help in the development towards an ideal setting for electronic chip fabrication units.





"Whether it is Taiwan or China - it's not easy for MNCs to set up fabrication units — it calls for investments to the tune of over $ three billion or more. MNCs always look for a package where they can get things moving easily. For India, this would make sense when there are a lot of OEMs already investing in local manufacturing. This is going to happen soon as India is moving towards the creation of this ecosystem," Sharma further explained.