India must focus on system-level products to unlock semiconductor potential: Dr Rajesh Mehta

Mehta, who is a veteran in the semiconductor industry and has worked in the first Semiconductor plant in Mohali, said, "I think there's also a system design and system making which is made in India rather than only imported."

Mehta believes that India stands at a crucial inflexion point. "India's situation is, I think, an inflexion point in the chip industry because of the global geopolitical situation, as well as what we are seeing is that technologies are migrating and changing."

System-level products refer to complete, functional end-products that integrate various components -- including semiconductors (chips) -- into a working system that performs a specific task.

He draws parallels with China's telecom leap from landlines to mobile phones, urging India to take a similar bold leap. "Right now, India should be doing the same lesson learned taken from, say, China, where they went in the telecom sector... Instead of landline, they jumped straight into a cell phone. And due to that, today China has a very advanced cell phone technology."

He also emphasises learning from countries like Taiwan. "They leapfrogged into not only manufacturing but also owning that technology. So I think we are at a point where we should not only manufacture, enter manufacturing, but we also should bring technology, as Prime Minister Modi has said, to innovate and own it."

Looking ahead, he suggests that India focus on emerging materials in semiconductor innovation. "My advice would be or suggestion would be areas which are new areas coming up. For example, in power management side the silicon is transitioning to silicon carbide, gallium nitride. We must make products and catch up in that area."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the day is not far when the smallest chips made in India will drive the biggest change in the world. He added that even though India started late in the semiconductor sector but nothing can stop the country now.

Speaking at the inaugural ceremony of India Semicon 2025, the Prime Minister highlighted India's growing role in the global semiconductor ecosystem.

The Prime Minister also noted that the global semiconductor market has already reached 600 billion dollars and is expected to cross 1 trillion dollars in the coming years. This growth, he said, is why investors are increasingly turning towards India.(ANI)