Business leaders reject nationalistic tech races at The Hindu Semiconductor Summit 2026

A business-led discussion at The Hindu Semiconductor Summit 2026 revolved around what four companies need in order to connect their technological capabilities and create a complete semiconductor ecosystem in India

Speed, ease of business, and international teamwork are crucial if India wants to advance its semiconductor ecosystem, according to four technologists and senior leaders who led a discussion during The Hindu Semiconductor Summit 2026 on Tuesday (October 27, 2026).

During the business-led session titled ‘From Design to Fab: Can India Build a Complete Semiconductor Ecosystem’ moderated by Kunal Shankar, The Hindu’s Deputy Business Editor, panel experts gave the audience a reality check and pushed back against ‘Indian tech versus the world’ narratives.

The panel experts who took part in the discussion were specialists and senior executives representing four companies: Applied Materials India, Teradyne, Krypton (India) Solutions, and Monk9 Tech Private Limited.

When it comes to the semiconductor value chain, the four companies occupy four different positions. Applied Materials supplies fabrication equipment and process technologies, while Monk9 Tech says it is developing semiconductor design and fabrication capabilities. Teradyne supplies semiconductor test equipment, and Krypton builds and integrates electronic products.

The discussion focused on what was needed to connect these capabilities and create a complete, commercially viable semiconductor ecosystem.

According to Dr. Suraj Rengarajan, Managing Director and Principal Technologist, Applied Materials India, tremendous ambitions aimed at vertical integration of the semiconductor industry may not be entirely possible and necessary either.

Dr. Rengarajan was firm in his belief that even though India was a late entrant to the sector, the country had design talent on one end of the chain and consumers on the other, with a network connection required between the two.

“Take what you have, and design what you need,” Dr. Rengarajan explained while addressing the challenges of indigenisation.

“We need to make this ecosystem happen because this addresses strategic areas that India needs,” he said, highlighting the links between semiconductor capabilities and India’s automotive, defence, strategic, and healthcare industries.

While many expect cost to be the defining factor, the panel experts pointed at other key variables: speed, ease of doing business, friendly collaboration, and ensuring quality.

To highlight the importance of speed, Divya Gurudutt, General Manager, Krypton (India) Solutions, shared an anecdote where she revealed the difficulty in importing a critical chemical that had a shelf life of three months.

She acknowledged that Indian suppliers were indeed growing, but that many were new entrants and would require years before the semiconductor ecosystem could be exclusively run through India.

“Everything depends on quality, cost and consistency. So, when we deliver a quality product, definitely we can prove ourselves because we already earned the trust from the global companies in the field of software,” said Ms. Gurudutt.

She urged companies to be stricter on the quality control front, in order to strengthen customer trust in Indian hardware.

Discussions about semiconductor ecosystems were often driven by nationalistic politics, defence needs, or sovereignty concerns, observed The Hindu’s Mr. Shankar.

For their part, the specialists explored the industry’s history of international collaboration and pooling global talent, suggesting that it could be a roadmap to the future.

Pointing to regions such as Japan, Taiwan, and even countries in Europe, Dr. Marmik Bhatt, Founder and CEO, Monk9 Tech Private Limited, observed that other international power players such as Qualcomm worked with companies across the world, including India, in order to manufacture and test their products.

Dr. Bhatt referred to the semiconductor industry as multi-disciplinary and global, underscoring that everything cannot be made on one country’s soil.

“I want people to take risk. I want people to go through the process and make something happen. So, I need more semiconductor entrepreneurs,” he said.

Alpa Sood, India Country Manager, Teradyne, impressed on listeners the importance of testing products, and ensuring investments earmarked specifically for R&D.

“So, tapping into the existing market is the right way, learning from our existing friends is a good way, but also parallelly training our people,” she said. “We have to be reliable, we have to make sure our yield is good. We also have to show them how fast we learn.”