India’s push to secure place in global chip supply has ‘secret weapon’: its people

India is betting big on domestic manufacturing of semiconductors – the microscopic brains that power everything electronic from cars to AI processing – in an ambitious bid to slash imports and boost its local industry.But observers say the country should set its sights even higher upstream on the value chain by mobilising its “secret weapon” – a talent pool that could realise its dream to turn “India" class="entity-link entity-topic" data-entity-id="190423" data-entity-type="topic">Make in India” into “India" class="entity-link entity-topic" data-entity-id="200182" data-entity-type="topic">Engineer in India”.New Delhi earlier this week launched the second phase of its mission with a budget of US$13 billion to build an industrial ecosystem spanning chip design to manufacturing. Building on the first phase, which focused heavily on foundational industrial set-up, the second expands support across the entire supply chain, including developing a large manpower pool.