Let’s think back to what happened a little more than a week ago: On 30 August, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart, Shigeru Ishiba, boarded Japan’s fastest bullet train, the Hayabusa, and cruised toward Miyagi prefecture at 320 km/h. They were heading to a facility of semiconductor equipment giant Tokyo Electron Limited, or TEL, in Sendai, to spotlight India and Japan’s collaboration in the semiconductor sector.
Japan is a major player in chipmaking, and it’s a model for the way disruption-free operations are crucial for any nation that is a meaningful part of the semiconductor space. This is a particularly important takeaway for India, especially given how PM Modi said last week that he expects to eventually see a “full stack” semiconductor ecosystem in the country.
There are plenty of risks to mitigate—the dependence on Taiwan, erratic diplomatic moves by US President Donald Trump, and China’s weaponisation of its dominance in supply chains, to name a few.
All of this means India needs rock-solid supply chain links for critical equipment and materials if it wants to become a reliable chip producer.
The Ken contributor Ankit Tiwari dives into the details in this week’s edition of Make India Competitive Again, as read by Brady Ng.