India has a strong chance to build its own chip ecosystem, according to Ankush Wadhera, Managing Director and Partner at Boston Consulting Group (BCG) told PTI on September 27. Three forces are working in its favor: rising electronics demand, government incentives and a shift in global semiconductor supply chains. Together, they are turning a long-held ambition into a real business opportunity.
Why Make Chips at Home?
Wadhera’s case starts with a simple point. India is home to one-fifth of the world’s population, and the world is going digital fast. Nearly everything people buy today has a chip inside it, from phones and cars to appliances. Someone has to make those chips.
If India is going to consume around a fifth of the world’s chips, he asked, why not make them in India?
Progress Is Already Visible
This is no longer just a plan on paper. Wadhera said India has made significant progress in building domestic semiconductor capacity. Many projects have been announced, and several facilities are already in commercial production.
That momentum is also changing where the money goes. Investment is moving beyond fabs and assembly units into the wider semiconductor value chain. In simple terms, the focus is widening from making the chips themselves to building the whole ecosystem around them.
Three Forces Behind the Opportunity
Rising demand – Indians are buying more electronics every year. That gives chipmakers a large, steady market right at home.
Policy support – Government incentives are lowering the cost and risk of setting up in the sector. This makes it easier for companies to commit to long, expensive projects.
Shifting supply chains – Global companies are spreading their chip supply chains across more countries instead of relying on just a few. India stands to gain from that shift.
AI Demand Isn’t Slowing
Wadhera expects the AI boom to keep driving demand for GPUs, computing power and memory. In his view, the link between AI and semiconductors will grow stronger over time, not weaker. As more companies build and run AI systems, they need more chips to do it.
He also addressed the ongoing debate on AI safety. Discussions about responsible AI matter, he said, because they help keep things in check. But he does not expect them to slow development or hurt chip demand. He described them as speed breakers, not stop signs. They may make the industry pause and look around, but they won’t bring it to a halt.
A Safe Bet in a Shaky World
Wadhera also pointed to India’s geopolitical position. He called India about as safe a haven as any country can be in the current global climate. He cited its many free trade agreements, its bilateral ties and its growing soft power. In his view, these are strong tailwinds for a sector that is so critical to global supply chains.
What Comes Next
For India, the opening is clear, and it comes from several directions at once: a huge home market, policy backing, global supply chain changes and steady AI-driven demand. The next test is turning announced projects into working plants and building the supporting industries around them. If that happens, India could move from being one of the world’s biggest chip consumers to being one of its meaningful chip makers.
