India Wants to Build Its Own Chips to Satisfy Electronics Demand

India’s IT services companies are tops in outsourcing, with Tata Consultancy Services and Infosys competing globally with IBM and Accenture. The cities of Bangalore and Hyderabad are well established as research centers for such multinationals as Microsoft, General Electric, and Intel.

But when it comes to hardware, India is behind. In 2013 it imported $33.5 billion worth of electronics, from semiconductors to smartphones. That’s more than it spent on any imports except oil and gold. With India’s large and growing middle class buying more digital devices, the reliance on imported semiconductors and other hardware is likely to increase. By next year, according to market analysts Frost & Sullivan, such imports will top $42 billion. “Our manufacturing has not kept pace with our consumption,” says PVG Menon, president of the Indian Electronic & Semiconductor Association. India does some assembly of TVs, mobile phones, computers, and set-top boxes.