SemiconIndia 2022 Conference: A First-of-Its-Kind

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) organized a unique conference this past weekend called SemiconIndia 2022. Inaugurated by Prime Minister Modi, other dignitaries from the government of India included Minister of Electronics and Information Technology, Communications and Railways, Ashwini Vaishnaw, and Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, Rajeev Chandrasekhar. This was the inaugural conference; it is expected that it will be an annual event.

The lineup of speakers was impressive with many Indian-born CEOs of global semiconductor companies keynoting, including Cadence’s President and CEO Anirudh Devgan. And it was attended by the “who’s who” in the industry, Ministry and academia, as well as several senior executives who flew in from abroad.

The conference continued the momentum of the announcement of $10 billion of incentives made by the Government of India in December 2021, and showed the seriousness of the Government in building up the local semiconductor ecosystem to compete at a global level – a tall order considering that there are many countries that are mature and well ahead of India in terms of semiconductor manufacturing, supply chain, design, research, and manpower development.

Nevertheless, while it is universally acknowledged that there are challenges, the mood was upbeat and the conference was a huge hit. The keynote speakers lauded the government for making semiconductors and electronics a strategic priority, and focused their talks on providing valuable input and perspective as to what India needs to do to be a global player.

Anirudh’s talk started with outlining India’s strengths in semiconductor and system design. The key message that underpinned Anirudh’s keynote was that India must build on the strength in semiconductor design expertise that it has built up over the decades. As for the unique opportunities that India could leverage, Anirudh pointed out that 3D-IC and AI are emerging technologies where no country has taken a lead as yet. With India’s strengths in design, these are two technical areas where there could be a big opportunity for differentiation.

He also pointed out that the Cloud has allowed for democratization of access to technology, and can be especially critical to giving a fillip to the startup ecosystem.

In reply to a question posed by Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar about manpower development, Anirudh said that one of the key differentiators that characterizes more advanced nations like the US is the partnership between academia, industry, and government for research and development. He said one of the key focus areas for Universities should be  research into new  areas that can be productized, which has been successfully done in the US but less so in India.

Anirudh also talked about Cadence’s commitment to India for over 30 years, and that Cadence was eager to partner, invest and grow together to realize the potential that the country has to offer in this space.

In addition to the keynote, Cadence had a booth in the exhibition area and was mentioned in a Memorandum of Understanding issued by the Government of India for the use of Cadence’s Electronic Design Automation (EDA) tools for the Chips to Startup (C2S) Program being implemented by the Center for the Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC). The Program aims to create 85,000 specialized engineers in the area of VLSI and Embedded System Design at 100+ institutions across the country.

The conference was many things, but most importantly it showed that the government means business. Critics may say that there have been attempts made in the past to get the semiconductor and electronics ecosystems into flight that have floundered, but this event, coupled with the MoU’s signed and press announcements made, had a different energy and buzz than earlier. Indeed, it is the first time that such an event has even taken place; and the fact that Minister Rajeev Chandrashekar himself sat through all the sessions, was actively asking questions, taking notes  and spoke with all the exhibitors, all suggest a higher level of commitment.

If industry, academia and government all come together in the way that each one has promised to, it will truly be a new era for the Indian semiconductor and electronics industry.