itif.org
Assessing India’s Readiness to Assume
a Greater Role in Global Semiconductor
Value Chains
STEPHEN EZELL | FEBRUARY 2024
India has the potential to play a much more significant role in global semiconductor value
chains, provided the government upholds its investment policies, maintains a conducive
regulatory and business environment, and avoids measures that create unpredictability.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Considering India’s large and growing consumer and business marketplace, its strengths
in electronics production, and global supply chain rebalancing, India should seize this
moment to expand its presence in global semiconductor value chains.
In the next five years, India has the potential to expand its presence in the semiconductor
assembly, test, and packaging (ATP) segment to as many as five facilities and to attract
fabs producing legacy semiconductors at 28 nm or above.
Expanding its presence in semiconductor manufacturing would build on India’s decades-
long experience in semiconductor design, where it accounts for 20 percent of the world’s
integrated circuit (IC) design workforce, over 125,000 workers.
The semiconductor industry faces a global shortage of talent; the over 800,000 engineers
India graduates annually could help, but better courses, training, and preparedness are
needed, as only a small fraction are industry ready upon graduation.
Multinational investors seek stability, certainty, and predictability. So, India must
continue to deepen recent improvements it has made to its business and policy
environments, while avoiding policies that create business uncertainty.
