Given the manufacturing base that Tamil Nadu has, the State government should think of ways in which it can develop chips, author Chris Miller said on Sunday.
Mr. Miller, whose book Chip War: The Fight for the World’s Most Critical Technology explains how computer chips have made the modern world and how the United States of America and China are struggling for control over this fundamental technology, referred to the fact that Tamil Nadu manufactures so many cars and mobile phones. “New cars have chips. A lot of mobile devices are moving from Tamil Nadu and all of them need chips,” said the author, who was in the city to participate in the Global Investors Meet 2024 (GIM 2024).
“The government should also focus on design, and I think that is what the government policy talks about,” he said, referring to the ‘Semiconductor and Advanced Electronics Policy 2024’, which was released earlier in the day at the event. He also pointed out that more people were working in chip design in India than anywhere else in the world.
“The labour force is very deep. And the growth of electronics will lead to more interest in setting up assembly and testing facilities here,” he said.
A word of caution
During his first visit to Chennai, Mr. Miller also cautioned that governments should be careful of spending a lot in attracting semiconductor fabrication plants as the marginal dollar is best spent on other parts of the chip value chain. “There is more money made in chip design than in fabrication,” he said, adding that political leaders focus insufficiently on design and too much on manufacturing.
