Why doesn't India manufacture chips.

Setting up a chip manufacturing company is extremely capital intenstive. The investement required to set up a single company is in order of $5 to $6 billion, which is very high for a lower middle income country. The Minister of Commerce and Industry to set up a fabrication plant in india, but experts in the sector seem unsure if it's a pragmatic proposition as the risks are too High and the investement required is too hugh. This comes as a strategic call in the wake of India-China standoff as the Government considerd the establisment of such facillities as being integral to the development of the electronic industry. India has done well in design and verification for the semi-conductor industry with most of the global semi-conductor companies having a R&D footprint in India, but 100% of our chips, memory and display are inmported into country. Just on semi-conductor chips alone, we are probably looking around $10 to $12 billion of imports this year at a minimum. India haas two fabs - SITAR, a unit of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in Begluru and a semi-conductir lab in Chandigarh, which buid silicon chips for strategic purpose like defence and space (not for commercial use). Venkata Simhadri, CEO, Moschip says the government needs to understand what the country needs and type of semiconductors fabs they are talking about. now, India for its part, is seeking to design homegrown fabless semi-conductors design ecosystem, and is harnessing local talent and helping nature acadmic institutions as well as startup.