Key Points

In an exclusive conversation with ANI, Crols spoke about Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of making India a semiconductor hub.

He said, "I think that that is for sure. Will it be the only one? No. But it will be a very important one. It can become a very important one."

He explained that India may not immediately become a leading country in production, but its strength lies in engineering design. According to him, India is already a very large player in the design segment of the semiconductor industry. This strong base in design automatically provides the potential for India to develop its own chips and bring them into its own fabs.

Crols added that events like the Semicon India highlight the country's growing role. He said there is already a very strong and large community within India, and with the right support, the growth of the industry can happen naturally.

Speaking on the nature of the semiconductor industry, he described it as a highly specialized and technology-driven field that demands continuous innovation.

"There may be more innovation here than in many other industries because every new chip has to be a strong innovation and has to bring new ideas within the chip," he said.

Once a chip is developed, it can be produced in very high volumes, but the next chip always has to be better and faster. This pace of innovation, he noted, is much faster than in many other areas.

On Cyient Semiconductor's contribution in India, Crols highlighted that their design capabilities are strongly placed in the country. He said that chip development for the Indian market is becoming more important.

"We have seen this with recent developments of a smart electricity meter for the Indian market or the development of an automotive chip dedicated for the automotive industry in India," he added.

He emphasized that this is an important area that is emerging for the company, and chip development optimized for the Indian market will be a focus going forward.

- ANI