Between 2018 and 2023, India ranked third globally in publishing research papers on chip design and fabrication, surpassing countries like Japan, South Korea and Germany, according to data from the Emerging Technology Observatory at Georgetown University, US. Researchers from Indian institutions contributed 39,709 papers, accounting for 8.4% of the total 472,819 papers published worldwide during this period. India's research output in this sector grew by 26% over five years, reflecting the country's increasing focus on the semiconductor industry. Despite this progress, the findings show that China has taken the lead in the field, surpassing the US by publishing 160,852 papers, making up 34% of the global share.

Experts say India has made significant strides in various chip design value chain areas. Currently, the country has over half a million professionals working in chip design, with major companies like Qualcomm, AMD and Intel establishing a presence in India. A report by the Boston Consulting Group highlights that Indian engineers make up around 19% of the global talent pool in this field.

“The research coming out of India is focused on the back-end portion of the chip or the product design value chain. Given the kind of environment the current government has created, there has been a double-digit increase in the R&D segment. There has been a Rs 2,000 crore infusion from the government to support state-of-the-art R&D in the country," Danish Faruqui, the CEO of Fab Economics, a U.S.-based consultancy specialising in greenfield fab and OSAT projects, stated.

According to official data, India has been making strides in semiconductor research, driven by increased government funding, which has grown from Rs 183.52 crore in FY15 to Rs 251 crore in FY24. However, India still trails behind global leaders like China and the US, which dominate academic research in this crucial field. The impact of India’s research remains limited, as reflected in its lower citation count per article. In contrast, the US leads in citations, highlighting the more significant influence of its research contributions. India’s scientific and engineering institutions also lag significantly. Nine of the top 10 institutions producing the most research papers are from China. Between 2018 and 2023, Chinese researchers contributed to 23,520 of the most cited semiconductor papers.

“The premier institutes of the nation do not have access to software licenses needed to train students in chip design. That’s a huge gap. This is because the licensing costs are too high, and we have not been able to scale up for training, leave alone R&D and replication,” Faruqui conveyed.

The executive emphasised the need for India to strengthen its ability to develop the software necessary for designing chipsets, which would enhance the competitive edge of local talent.

“We need to cover the entire chip design value chain so that we become a product nation ourselves,” Faruqui stated, saying that India lacks strong product-level design capabilities.

A report by staffing firm TeamLease highlights a major skill gap in the electronics industry, especially as the sector moves into advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, and Industry 4.0.

“Our projections indicate that by FY 2027-28, the electronics sector will employ approximately 12 million people in direct and indirect roles; however, it will face a substantial workforce shortfall of 8 million and a skills gap affecting an additional 10 million,” according to the TeamLease report.

The report highlighted a significant gap between what students learn in academic programs and the skills needed in the electronics industry. It pointed out that educational institutions are struggling to keep up with the fast-paced technological advancements in the sector.