Iran crisis a wake-up call for India to push indigenous semiconductor design: L&T's Sanjay Gupta

In an exclusive conversation with ANI, Gupta said the geopolitical turmoil has "impacted global supply chains and disrupted a lot of businesses because a lot of things got just choked." However, he added that for innovation-driven companies like L&T Semiconductor, the situation offers an opportunity to focus on fundamentals. "In short term, we don't see any impact on us. I think it's a great opportunity for every Indian company who want to be driven to make indigenous sovereign products," he said.

Gupta stressed that over-reliance on foreign technology could be "really fatal" in times of geopolitical tension. He welcomed the government's push to design and develop CCTV camera chips in India, calling it an achievable goal. "Knowing that designing this chip is not rocket science, it is something that is within our reach. Today most of these chips or even complex chips of this nature are designed by Indians but in other global companies," he said. "I can tell you with very high confidence that every Indian entrepreneur is going to take it very seriously and they will be highly successful."

Beyond CCTV chips, Gupta said the focus should extend to a wider range of sovereign products -- from data centers and AI infrastructure to automotive electronics, smart cards, passports and home automation devices. "Everywhere we look around, each human uses at least 10 to 20 electronic gadgets with semiconductors," he said, adding that energy and automotive are two critical focus areas. With India targeting 500 GW of renewable energy but yet to reach even 25% of that, semiconductors will be essential across generation, transmission, distribution and consumption.

Drawing a parallel with India's IT success, Gupta said the country's young and talented population is its biggest advantage. "The government has done a lot in the last 10 years... they have already started a good design-linked incentive policies for startups," he said. However, he noted that the current Rs 15 crore cap under ISM 1.0 is insufficient and needs to be increased and made more upfront rather than reimbursement-based.

On the broader ecosystem, Gupta cautioned against aiming for 100% self-reliance, saying even China hasn't achieved it given that a semiconductor product "travels international boundaries more than 70 times" before completion. Instead, India should focus on strategic areas like design, fabrication and OSAT, while partnering with friendly countries for specialized chemicals and equipment. "We should be thinking 30, 40 years down the line, not three to four years," he said, expressing confidence that with the right partnerships India can replicate its IT revolution in semiconductors.

- ANI