India’s Semiconductor Mission: Why a Self-Reliant Approach Matters

The Current Semiconductor Mission: A Foreign-Centric Strategy

India’s ambitious Semiconductor Mission aims to establish India as a semiconductor manufacturing hub by incentivizing foreign players like TSMC, Intel, and Samsung to set up fabs in India. These efforts are important and welcome, as they bring investment, jobs, and technology transfer. However, the approach is heavily focused on attracting global giants to build state-of-the-art fabs, often targeting the most advanced nodes (sub-10nm processes).

The problem? Even if such fabs are set up, India will remain dependent on foreign control of key equipment, critical raw materials, and proprietary processes. The global semiconductor supply chain will continue to dictate not only what India produces but also how much.

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A Realistic and Sustainable Parallel Strategy

Instead of relying solely on foreign players, India should pursue a parallel, self-reliant roadmap focusing on strategic capabilities that can be realistically built and controlled.

Phase 1: Build Local Raw Material and Chemical Manufacturing Capacity

• Ultra-pure Gases and Chemicals: Establish domestic production of semiconductor-grade chemicals and gases (e.g., silane, nitrogen trifluoride, phosphine, photoresists).
• Silicon Wafers: Develop wafer fabrication units to supply high-quality silicon wafers in-house.
• Process Control Instruments: Build indigenous process monitoring and control systems to reduce dependence on imported equipment.

Phase 2: Leverage ISRO’s Optics Expertise for Lithography

• India’s space program excels in ultra-precise optical engineering.
• Adapt ISRO’s optical technologies to develop high-resolution lithography machines suitable for 180nm to 65nm semiconductor fabrication.
• This effort will require at least 3–5 years of dedicated R&D, but it is a practical, achievable goal.

Phase 3: Target Mature Nodes (180nm → 130nm → 65nm)

Focusing on mature nodes has multiple benefits:

• These process nodes serve a large existing market (automotive, industrial, IoT, power electronics).
• They do not require extremely advanced (and proprietary) process technology.
• Local fabs can be built and operated without immediate foreign IP restrictions.

Phase 4: Long-Term Goal – Explore Below 65nm

Once India has mastered the chemical supply chain, lithography optics, and process know-how up to 65nm, the next step is to gradually target sub-65nm nodes (45nm, 28nm, 7nm), depending on technological advances. This phase should include:

• Collaborative R&D partnerships focused on EUV lithography development over the next decade.
• Building capability in atomic-level process control and cleanroom manufacturing at the nanoscale.
• Long-term IP ecosystem development to reduce licensing dependency.

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Why This Approach Is Necessary

✓ Supply Chain Sovereignty: Avoid overdependence on global suppliers for critical raw materials and equipment.

✓ Incremental Progress: Enables steady technological advancement while minimizing risk of unsustainable large-scale capital outlays.

✓ Strategic Autonomy: Builds India’s internal capabilities in chemicals, optics, and process control, making it a future leader in the semiconductor ecosystem.

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Conclusion: A Balanced Strategy for Sustainable Semiconductor Growth

India’s Semiconductor Mission is an important step forward, but it should not remain overly dependent on foreign semiconductor giants. A parallel, self-reliant strategy focused on building local raw material capacity, leveraging ISRO optics, and targeting mature semiconductor nodes (180nm → 130nm → 65nm) is the most pragmatic and sustainable approach. In the long term, this will create a strong foundation to pursue advanced node fabrication independently.