In addition to services, We should become product nation

AJAI CHOWDHRY, co-founder, HCL (Hindustan Computers Ltd), set up the EPIC Foundation in 2021, a not-for-profit organisation, to make India a "product nation" in electronics. In a conversation in Kolkata, the chairman of the Mission Governing Board of the National Quantum Mission of India and member of the Advisory Board of India Semiconductor Mission, tells Ishita Ayan Dutt India's strength is in design but it is used by global companies to develop their products in India, which needs to change. Edited excerpts:

- AJAI CHOWDHRY

A new semiconductor package is expected. What is the likely outlay? The Ministry of Electronics should be able to get sanction on Phase II in the next few months. All the parties are ready.

Maharashtra will have one silicon fab, Uttar Pradesh will have two, and there will be one small fab in Karnataka and one in Odisha. All these proposals are on the table. The good news is, there is a lot of interest. The first phase was $10 billion, and the second will be nearly the same.

In addition to the huge amount of money taxpayers are paying for setting up these plants, state governments are also participating. Many state governments have come up with semiconductor policies. In a manner, close to 70 per cent of the capex will be paid by taxpayers. So we are well on our way to creating a semiconductor programme.

The missing piece is the front-end. You will have a lot of these plants coming up in the next four years. But who will be the customer? Exports are not easy because every country is putting up fabs.