India Needs Homegrown Product Companies In Semiconductor

CADENCE DESIGN'S INDIA MD

- SHRABONA GHOSH

Most multinationals retain product ownership, key value and intellectual property at their headquarters. As a result, India, despite having a vast pool of design talent, lacks significant Indian product companies in the semiconductor industry, says Jaswinder Ahuja, MD, India Cadence Design Systems.

Cadence Design Systems, one of the leaders in electronic systems design and automation, predicts significant opportunities for Indian companies that own and develop their semiconductor products. "What we are missing in India is the presence of homegrown product companies. Most multinationals retain product ownership, key value, and intellectual property at their headquarters. As a result, India, despite having a vast pool of design talent, lacks significant Indian product companies in the semiconductor industry. This is an area where we hope to see substantial change in the coming years, with the development of more Indian companies that own and develop their semiconductor products," said Jaswinder Ahuja, MD, India and corporate vice-president, international headquarters, Cadence Design Systems.

A combination of specific policies by the Indian government, such as the Design Linked Incentive (DLI) plan, along with the domino effect of the entire ecosystem bootstrapping in India, is set to transform the landscape. However, if a fabrication plant (fab) or an outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) facility is established in isolation, it would still rely on global customers to fill its capacity, due to the lack of Indian product companies utilizing these facilities. This highlights the need for a comprehensive approach that encourages the growth of indigenous product companies to fully capitalize on the semiconductor ecosystem being developed in India.