With the global geopolitical landscape shifting and the importance of technological self-reliance becoming more critical than ever, India's Union Budget 2025 holds the potential to redefine the nation’s trajectory. Dr. Ajai Chowdhry, Founder of HCL and Chairman of EPIC Foundation, a prominent figure in India's electronics and semiconductor sector, calls for a transformative approach in the upcoming Union Budget 2025 to propel India towards becoming a self-reliant technological powerhouse. His vision emphasizes reducing dependency on imports, empowering local manufacturing, and positioning India as a global technology leader.
Dr. Ajai Chowdhry emphasizes that the budget should prioritize strategic investments that can lay the foundation for India’s future technological independence. He explains, “We need to turn the spotlight on to ourselves and seize the opportunity to become a Product nation, and not just remain traders.”
Dr. Ajai Chowdhry Ajai highlights the progress India has already made in establishing semiconductor plants. He says, “We are already establishing five semiconductor plants across the nation, and further plants are planned for the future. A substantial sum of around Rs. 90,000 crore has been allocated for capital expenditures (capex) by Central and State governments. However, domestic production of chips and systems is crucial to fill the fabs with business. As part of the Task Force established by the honourable minister to transform India into an Electronic Product Nation, EPIC Foundation has put forward a proposal to the central government for this objective.
Dr. Chowdhry emphasizes that India must focus on increasing its domestic production. He explains, “We are very keen that this proposal is considered favourably in the budget and this has to be taken up on a high priority because the fabs will start running from this year to next 2 years and we will remain dependant on export business.”
Another pressing issue that Dr. Chowdhry brings up is the current reliance on imported chips and electronics. He asserts, “Chips and other products are in high demand in the country, but they are all imported nowadays. We must create clear preference for Indian trusted chips for govt purchases to help create the market and make startups and others successful.”
He emphasizes on building a robust local supply chain that can support a thriving electronics and semiconductor industry. “We suggested the government to prioritise high-quality chips for the nation and provided a list of 30 chips and 30 priority products that should be developed and manufactured in India. The country's fabless and product industries will both benefit from this. The Government signed the WTO ITA1 agreement which came into effect in 2005 and destroyed the electronics industry as all imports got allowed with zero duty. This task force was set up to bring back the glory of Indian Electronic products and recreate Indian brands,” he notes.
In terms of the Union Budget 2025, Dr. Chowdhry has recommended some allocation to the Product Nation initiative. He states, “We recommended allocating Rs. 44,000 crore to the Product Nation, with Rs. 15,000 crore going toward system products and Rs. 11,000 crore for semiconductor products. The balance is for additional incentives and acquisitions.
The most critical ones that are needed to be done in the budget are atleast the semiconductor products so that we become self-sufficient over a short period of time because that’s the demand of the new unipolar world. India has already made significant strides with the development of RISCV technology at IITM, eliminating the need to pay license fees. Building on this, we should focus on designing our own chips using RISCV to safeguard against future sanctions.”
Dr. Chowdhry suggests that India should capitalize on this by focusing on designing its own chips. “In the light of new geopolitics, we must leverage our strengths in chip design and our large home market to become a critical part of global value chain. These are needed for us to have the negotiating leverage to protect our strategic interest, even in the near term,” he says.
Dr. Chowdhry concludes his call for action by stressing the urgency of these measures, particularly in light of new international regulations. “It is our request to the Government, Ministry as well as the Finance Minister to look at the proposal very critically as this has become much more urgent and important due to the new regulations coming in from US,” he concludes.
𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐮𝐩𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐲 𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 WhatsApp Channel now! 👈📲
𝑭𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘 𝑶𝒖𝒓 𝑺𝒐𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝑴𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒂 𝑷𝒂𝒈𝒆𝐬 👉 Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram
