Author: Prof Venu Gopal Achanta

Semiconductors are ubiquitous with their requirement in wide ranging sectors covering consumer electronics, automobiles, strategic sectors, biomedical equipment, among others. Semiconductors have thus emerged as a very important sector for the growth of any nation. Essentially, semiconductor microchips as Integrated Circuits (ICs), primarily made out of silicon, are used to fabricate electronic devices. From as early as the 1960s, there were several attempts by the Indian government as well as private individuals and industries to set up semiconductor fabrication facilities in the country. Being a capital intensive industry, previous attempts did not materialise. There are facilities at Bharat Electronics Limited, Bengaluru; Semiconductor Complex Limited, Chandigarh; GATECH, Hyderabad, among…