By Mukesh Khare and Sandip Patel

From the continued surge in the global demand for chips that power generative AI, coupled with the realization of the importance of a reliable semiconductor supply chain for national and economic security, governments across the world are responding. Nations are collectively investing over $1T in domestic semiconductor manufacturing, materials, and research. 

As India and the world move towards self-reliance in semiconductors, the development of a robust and sustainable semiconductor ecosystem is vital. The key actionable recommendations to ensure the success of India’s semiconductor supply chain are:  

1. An ecosystem of partners that includes the government, industry, and academic institutions. 
2. Focused efforts on manufacturing AND building a pipeline of innovation through research and development.
3. Leveraging India’s home-grown talent to deliver leading edge indigenous designs of products such as micro-processor and AI chips. 

We at IBM have always believed that public-private-academic partnerships are the key to fulfilling the need to build an entire ecosystem around semiconductor technology leadership. 

Investments in research, talent training, small and medium business development, and workforce readiness through joint partnerships are exemplified in Albany, New York. Here, IBM Research has a lab located within the Albany Nanotech Complex owned by government entity NY CREATES, adjacent to the State University of New York (SUNY) at Albany campus. 

This model has enabled world-class research that drives an innovative technology roadmap to 2040, advancing the next generation of semiconductors, packaging and system technologies to meet the needs of compute, design modularity, application-tuned designs (such as chips for generative AI), and cost.

The pandemic made it clear that our global supply chain is quite vulnerable and concentrated in a few regions, while demand for chips is growing at a rapid pace.  

Many countries, including India, are looking to bring chip production closer to home. As one recent example, the Japanese government recently launched an effort to revitalize its semiconductor industry. In 2022, Rapidus (a critical mission for Japan) and IBM announced a strategic partnership towards the development of the most advanced 2nm logic and advanced packaging technologies. Rapidus engineers are working alongside IBM at Albany Nanotech to boost Japan’s semiconductor capabilities. Collaborations like this are critical to ensure a more geographically balanced and resilient global supply chain.

India is currently developing the right strategy to accelerate manufacturing capability across India and the world with the recently announced investments from the government and industry. 

Using the blueprint outlined in the ISRC report, a self-reliant India will require setting up the right research and development infrastructure to develop a broad set of semiconductor capabilities. Of utmost importance is a structure that will sustain a long-term technology roadmap to continue to bolster domestic manufacturing. 

India is well positioned to do this – the country currently houses 20% of the global talent in chip design. These design houses can work with other established and upcoming semiconductor organizations and academic institutions to define industry-driven projects and partnerships that enable innovative research while being anchored to a path of rapid local design and productization. IBM has a strong server development team (ISDL) in India that specializes in the design and development of high-end processors and enterprise-class systems. 

IBM is helping enable such collaborative partnerships, demonstrated by the recent MOU signed by IBM and C-DAC, based on the IBM Power architecture – one of IBM’s flagship micro-processors. 

This could serve as a platform for other cross-industry initiatives, in addition to futuristic product-oriented design initiatives through participation in consortiums and direct university engagements, including curriculum development.  

Such continued public-private partnerships would encourage seamless lab-to-fab transfer, accelerate the transition of technology breakthroughs from research to manufacturing, and develop a vibrant ecosystem that supports Indian start-ups and large entities to build indigenous semiconductor products for the country and for the world.

India’s commitment to establish itself as a key partner in global semiconductor supply chains is notable. Establishing public-private-academic partnerships, focusing on research and development alongside manufacturing, and leveraging local design talent to build indigenous products will be vital to India’s long-term success.