In this episode of Interpreting India, Stephen Ezell joins Konark Bhandari to discuss the semiconductor ecosystem. What is stopping India from cultivating a local chip design ecosystem? Why is it unable to leverage its considerable talent pool, which constitutes approximately 30 percent of the global chip design talent? Is India's aim of setting up a fabrication facility too ambitious?
The U.S.-India initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET) was launched during the Quad Summit in Tokyo in May 2022. The purpose of the iCET was to expand partnerships in critical and emerging technologies, including semiconductors.
As part of the iCET, the Semiconductor Industry Association and India Electronics and Semiconductor Association agreed to undertake a “readiness assessment” to identify near-term industry opportunities and facilitate the longer-term strategic development of their complementary semiconductor ecosystems. The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), a Washington, DC-based science and technology policy think tank, was commissioned to undertake authorship of this assessment.
In this episode, Stephen Ezell, vice president for global innovation policy at ITIF, joins Konark Bhandari to discuss the opportunities and obstacles involved in cultivating robust semiconductor supply chains.
Episode Contributors
Stephen Ezell is vice president for global innovation policy at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) and director of ITIF’s Center for Life Sciences Innovation. He also leads the Global Trade and Innovation Policy Alliance. His areas of expertise include science and technology policy, international competitiveness, trade, and manufacturing. Ezell is also the co-author of Innovating in a Service-Driven Economy: Insights, Application, and Practice and Innovation Economics: The Race for Global Advantage.
Konark Bhandari is a fellow at Carnegie India. He is a lawyer who has researched certain areas in the digital economy, focusing primarily on approaches to antitrust regulation of companies in the digital realm. He had earlier worked at India’s antitrust regulator, the Competition Commission of India, where he worked closely with senior officials on a variety of matters. He is also an avid follower of the regulation of the space technology ecosystem and is keen to contribute to that discipline.
Additional Readings
Is India “Ready” for Semiconductor Manufacturing? by Konark Bhandari
The Geopolitics of the Semiconductor Industry and India’s Place in It by Konark Bhandari
Key Moments
(00:00); Introduction
(02:23); Chapter 1: Offshoring Operations Outside China
(05:52); Chapter 2: Utilization of ITSI Funds
(09:19); Chapter 3: Friendshoring Initiatives
(13:35); Chapter 4: Survival of Supplier Companies
(19:06); Chapter 5: Semiconductor Fabrication Ecosystem in India
(21:44); Chapter 6: Financial Investments
(25:28); Chapter 7: Why Hasn’t India Leveraged the Chip-Designing Ecosystem?
(27:48); Chapter 8: Role of Trade Policy in Company Investment
(32:26); Chapter 9: Red Tape to Red Carpet: Readiness in India on Investment
(35:36); Closing Comments
(36:32); Outro