Priti GuptaTechnology Reporter
Tejas Networks
Tejas Networks provides tools for cell phone networks and broadband connections
A dependable provide of computer chips is crucial for Arnob Roy, the co-founder of Tejas Networks.
His firm, primarily based in Bangalore, India, provides the tools behind cell phone networks and broadband connections.
“Essentially, we provide the electronics that carry traffic across telecom networks,” he says.
That requires particular chips designed for telecoms duties.
“Telecom chips are fundamentally different from consumer or smartphone chips. They handle massive volumes of data coming simultaneously from hundreds of thousands of users.
“These networks can not go down. Reliability, redundancy and fail-safe operation are vital – the chip structure has to help that,” Roy says.
Tejas designs many of those chips in India, a country well known for its expertise in designing computer chips (also known as semiconductors).
It’s estimated that 20% of the world’s semiconductor engineers are in India.
“Almost each main world chip firm has its largest or second-largest design centre in India, engaged on cutting-edge merchandise,” says Amitesh Kumar Sinha, Joint Secretary of India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
What India lacks is companies that manufacture semiconductors.
So Indian firms like Tejas Neworks design the chips they need in India, but then have them manufactured overseas.
The weakness of that system was exposed during Covid, when the supply of chips dried up and companies in all sorts of industries had to scale back production.
“The pandemic made it clear that semiconductor manufacturing is just too concentrated globally, and that focus carries severe danger,” Roy says.
That spurred India to develop its own semiconductor industry.
“Covid confirmed us how fragile world provide chains can be. If one a part of the world shuts down, electronics manufacturing all over the place is disrupted,” says Sinha.
“That’s why India is creating its personal semiconductor ecosystem to cut back danger and enhance resilience,” he provides.
He is main authorities efforts to develop the semiconductor business, which entails figuring out elements of the manufacturing course of the place India can compete.
Getty Images
Computer chips are made by etching circuits on to silicon wafers
There are several steps in making a computer chip. First design, where India is already strong.
The second stage is wafer fabrication, where thin sheets of silicon have circuits etched on to them by extremely expensive machines in huge factories known as semiconductor “fabs”.
That part of the process, particularly for the most sophisticated chips, is dominated by companies in Taiwan, with China trying to catch up.
In the third stage those large silicon wafers are sliced up into individual chips, packaged in protective casing, connected to contacts and tested.
That third stage, known as Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (Osat), is the part of the production process targeted by India.
“Assembly, take a look at and packaging are simpler to start out than fabs and that’s the place India is transferring first,” says Ashok Chandak, president of India Electronics and Semiconductor Association (IESA).
He says that several such plants will “enter mass manufacturing” this 12 months.
Getty Images
China is building up its semiconductor industry
Founded in 2023, Kaynes Semicon is the first company to get a semiconductor plant up and running with support from the Indian government.
Kaynes Semicon invested $260m (£270m) in a factory to assemble and test computer chips in the northwestern state of Gujarat. Production started in November of last year.
“Packaging is not only placing a chip in a field. It’s a 10 to 12 step manufacturing course of,” says Raghu Panicker, CEO of Kaynes Semicon.
“That’s why packaging and testing are as vital as making the chip itself with out this stage, the wafer is ineffective to business.”
His facility will not be making the most advanced computer chips found in the latest mobile phones or used for training AI.
“India doesn’t want the most complicated datacentre or AI chips on day one. That just isn’t the place our demand is, and that isn’t the place our power lies in the present day,” Panicker says.
Instead, they will be the kind of chips used in cars, telecoms and the defence industry.
“These are usually not glamorous chips, however they’re economically and strategically way more necessary for India. You construct an business by first serving your personal market. Complexity can come later. Scale has to come back first,” he adds.
It’s been a steep learning curve for Kaynes Semicon.
“We had by no means constructed a semiconductor cleanroom in India earlier than. We had by no means put in this tools earlier than. We had by no means educated folks for this earlier than,” Panicker says.
“Semiconductors demand a stage of self-discipline, documentation and course of management that could be very completely different from conventional manufacturing. That cultural shift is as necessary as the technical one.”
Getting staff trained has been a huge challenge.
“Training takes time. You can not shortcut 5 years of expertise into six months. That is the single largest bottleneck,” Panicker says.
Back in Bangalore, at Tejas Networks, Arnob Roy is looking forward to buying more locally-sourced tech.
“Over the subsequent decade, we anticipate a vital semiconductor manufacturing base to emerge in India and that can straight assist corporations like ours.”
It’s the start of a long journey, he says.
“I do see Indian corporations finally designing and manufacturing full telecom chipsets however it is going to take affected person capital and time.
“Deep-tech products take longer to mature, and India is only now beginning to support that kind of investment.”
More Technology of Business
