India Comment vFinal DR 25/6/08 15:35 Page 5
Editorial Comment Semiconductor India
Amidst the confusion
The confusion within India at the moment regarding the regions
efforts to develop indigenous semiconductor manufacturing is not as
unexpected or as damaging as one might expect. This initial
confusion may appear to be the result of ignorance to the realities of
the semiconductor industry but it is actually a dramatic pattern that
has been played out in different regions around the world. Like
everyone else, India is discovering that entering the tight knit
semiconductor manufacturing community takes much more than
loads of cash and good intentions.
Recent announcements have included Chennia based SPEL
Semiconductor dropping plans for setting up Special Economic
Zones (SEZs) due to an inability to deliver on such plans as well as
the news that SemIndia and Nano-Tech Silicon have being
requested by the local Hyderabad government to explain the reasons
for the delay in setting up in Fab City. An initial look suggests a One area has of course made inroads into manufacturing much
disaster but in truth it is no more than the very long learning curve faster than those mentioned by Penn and that is China. This is a
that not all parties expected. region that India can rightly compare itself to and is well worth
looking at to discover the difference. Despite the massive political
In this edition of Semiconductor India we look at what has changed differences there is one factor that India should take heed of if they
since the inception of the semiconductor policy as well as what will want to improve the level of success and that is consistent long term
need to change for the Indian manufacturing dream to become a vision by all parties. There may be factors that make it longer to
reality. In his excellent overview, Malcolm Penn of Future Horizons reach such consensus but unless government, industry and the larger
looks at the 10-20 years required to achieve such ambitious gaols community reaches consensus on what the vision is and the
and uses Europe and Taiwan as tow examples that have faced the processes required to put that vision in to play, there may be a much
same challenges. longer circle of confusion than is required.
One of the telling changes for the Indian community is the extreme The other option will be some areas due to local decision making
shift towards photovoltaic manufacturing from the more difficult will become much more successful, leaving some of the SEZs
semiconductor infrastructure and we welcome the input of local languishing with great desire but no manufacturing product. It is no
well known journalist Sufia Tippu in describing the activities in that longer a time to complain about who is not doing what but to gain a
sector. better understanding of what is required and developing consistent
plans to put action ahead of promises.
There is no doubt this will be the first metric of success and what
occurs in the PV market will provide guidance on the potential David Ridsdale
success of semiconductor manufacturing. Editor in Chief
Summer 2008 | www.semiconductor-india.com 5
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