Since the Covid-19 pandemic began, the supply chain has been disrupted and has continued to be disrupted. Due to this supply chain disruption, essential products and various items production have not been able to meet up demand, and this has created issues in the daily aspects of our lives. One of the essential products that have suffered from the supply chain crisis is electronic chips.

Today, everything around us is powered by electronics, everything from electronics to our cars to our ACs; we are surrounded by electronic chips. Due to the supply chain crisis, we don’t have the necessary amount of chips to keep up with the demand, and this is a massive issue due to the fact that with the pandemic, we’ve seen massive adoption in digital tech across various aspects of our lives and not having functioning electronics is making our lives worse. To solve this crisis, there are two key measures to be taken:- a distributed supply chain and RISC-V development and adoption. Let’s find out How India can further both of these areas.

Semicon Program 

India is very focused on positioning itself as the ‘alternative’ to china with respect to electronic chip fabrication and manufacturing. The government of India and its Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology have developed a program called ‘Semicon’. Semicon is a program aimed at attracting semiconductor companies, such as Intel, AMD, etc., to fabricate and manufacture electronic chips in India. The Semicon program has launched the India Semiconductor Mission. It is part of a comprehensive program for the development of a sustainable semiconductor and display ecosystem in the country. The program aims to provide financial support to companies investing in semiconductors, display manufacturing, and design ecosystems. What are the policies aimed at helping semiconductor companies?

1. It aims to provide financial support to eligible applicants for setting up of semiconductor fab.
2. The scheme provides financial support of 30% of capital expenditure to semiconductor facilities.
3. Design Linked Incentive Scheme: It’ll provide financial incentives and design infrastructure support across various stages of development and deployment of semiconductor design for Integrated Circuits, Chipsets, Systems on Chips, Systems & IP Cores, and semiconductor linked design.
4. Production Linked Incentives to the tune of 7.5 Billion dollars have been approved for Largest Scale Electronics Manufacturing, PLI for IT Hardware, SPECS Scheme, and Modified Electronics Manufacturing Clusters Scheme.
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DIR-V Program

DIR-V program intends to foster partnerships between startups, academia, and multinational companies; the aim is to make India a global RISC-V talent hub. The program also aims at making India a key supplier of RISC-V SoC for servers, mobile devices, automotive, IoT, and microcontrollers across the globe. DIR-V has created two new chips:- Shakti and Vega. Let me tell you their specs. Shakti processor was built on a 180nm, uses 32-bit cores, and runs at between 75Mhz and 100Mhz. The next iteration of Shakti is released with Intel’s partnership. This Shakti is built on a 22nm process. Shakti designs are being used for servers and HPC applications, but Vega chips are more advanced and used for higher quality and demanding applications. Currently, the MoUs signed by the government are:

1. Sony India and IIT Madras for products developed by Sony using DIR-V Shakit Processor.
2. MoU between ISRO IISU, Thiruvananthapuram, and IIT Madras for the development of high-performance SoCs and Fault-Tolerant Computer Systems using DIR-V Shakti Processor.
3. MoU between Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR), Department of Atomic Energy, and DIR-V SHAKTI Processor for the systems/products developed by IGCAR.
4. MoU between Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) and DIR-V Vega Processor for Rudra Server Board, Cyber Security, and Language Solutions
5. MoU between Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT) and DIR-V Vega Processor for the 4G/5G, broadband, IoT.
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Additional Initiatives 

India has recently become a premium member of the non-profit RISC-V organization and is working with the RISC-V organization to further research and development of RISC-V. A part of the legislation passed with respect to semiconductor policy was developing a technical workforce. India has announced a program that will work with universities in India to create 85,000 engineers who are extremely skilled in the design and development of chips and by having a highly technical workforce in chip design, It can help further the development and adoption of RISC-V in India and can usher RISC-V to the mainstream.

Conclusion 

We are living in a period of uncertainty when it comes to Geo-Politics and Foreign Relations. Since 2020, the connection between China with the US has been breaking apart, and the future seems quite uncertain when it comes to the future. In times like this, the United States and various companies look to their allies for stability, support, and a real partner in these uncertain times. With the chip-shortage crisis as well as the looming threat of the Taiwan Invasion, the world is looking for a stable partner, and the Indian government is positioning India as that partner. With the most comprehensive policy on semiconductor manufacturing and fabrication we have seen from India in decades, India is taking another shot as the ‘alternative’ to china in semiconductor manufacturing.

Nandan Shrinivas Chebbi