The Union Budget 2026 outlined India’s push into high-value segments of the semiconductor ecosystem. In an exclusive conversation with ETCIO, Ashok Chandak, President of India Electronics and Semiconductor Association, assesses whether industry and institutional capacity can match the ambition, the roadmap for rare earth corridors, and the role of industry-led training in creating a globally competitive talent pipeline.
Edited excerpts:
India’s semiconductor strategy is becoming broader and more complex. Does the current institutional and industrial capacity match the ambition of India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) 2.0, particularly in equipment and materials?
India’s strategy under ISM 2.0 reflects a maturing vision that moves beyond foundational presence toward vertically integrated leadership. While ISM 1.0 successfully anchored our first ‘mega-fabs’ and OSAT units, the second phase correctly prioritized the high-value upstream segments of equipment and materials.
When it comes to private sector readiness, where do you see the biggest gaps today — technology, capital, or skilled manpower — when it comes to building competitive equipment and materials ecosystems in India?
The primary constraint for the private sector is no longer capital availability, but ‘knowledge-capital’ and process discipline. Building a competitive equipment and materials ecosystem requires navigating steep learning curves and achieving yield stability that meets global benchmarks.
What will determine whether rare earth corridors become globally relevant supply hubs rather than domestically focused projects?
India’s potential in rare earth corridors is not defined by resource availability alone, but by our capacity for downstream value addition and quality consistency. To become a global supply hub, we must offer the same reliability and scale as established players.
Our focus is on integrating these resources into the broader electronics value chain through transparent policies and long-term offtake arrangements. This ensures that our rare earth strategy serves as a resiliency anchor for both domestic fabs and our global partners, moving India from a raw material source to a critical node in the global semiconductor supply chain.
Can industry-led research and training centres realistically close the skills gap fast enough, or will India still remain dependent on overseas expertise in critical semiconductor domains?
Closing the skills gap requires a fundamental shift toward industry-led research and training centers that provide ‘fab-floor’ experience. IESA has started on this approach already. While selective global expertise remains vital in the near term for bleeding-edge nodes, our long-term goal is to build a deep, sustainable domestic capability that reduces overseas dependence.
The 65K students enrolled under the C2S program is a good start. Now, the manufacturing related training and workforce development is needed and as an industry body both – IESA and SEMI are defining the roadmaps and plans.
By aligning academic curricula with the technical rigor of the ESDM sector, we are creating a talent pipeline that is not just qualified on paper, but ‘industry-ready’ from day one. India is positioned to become a global talent magnet, leveraging our vast design workforce to lead in the next era of semiconductor innovation.
