India badly needs a semiconductor fab

India Semiconductor Association's annual event ISA vision summit 2010 was inaugurated at Taj West End Hotel, Bangalore by ISRO's former Chairman Dr. G. Madhavan Nair.

This year's ISA vision summit is well attended by both private and public sector companies. Dr. Madhavan Nair, in his keynote address highlighted the importance of R&D in semiconductor and electronics industry. He suggested any industry with strong R&D focus to have the patience to wait for good returns on investment.

On the question of India having semiconductor fab, Madhavan Nair said, "India badly needs semiconductor fab. Compared to other countries, we have not invested in this area, and at least now, we should seriously think. In the last two years, a lot of discussions were going on, but nothing concrete has taken place. Looking at the volume of the business India has got in terms of communication and computers equipment, we need a fab. The industry should come together and the government should also support the initiative"

These words from the head of a successful chandrayan- 1 mission have to be considered seriously due to the immense role of semiconductor chips play in space communication. ISRO is continuously excelling in space electronics without having a proper semiconductor manufacturing eco-system in India.