India is stepping up its semiconductor game by starting local chip assembly and testing plants, aiming to cut its heavy reliance on overseas manufacturing. Tejas Networks, a Bangalore-based company, designs telecom chips but currently sends them abroad for production. Arnob Roy, co-founder of Tejas Networks, says telecom chips must be highly reliable to handle huge data traffic. India has strong chip design talent, with about 20% of the world’s semiconductor engineers based here. Many global chip firms have major design centers in India. However, India lacks large semiconductor factories ('fabs') that make chips from silicon wafers. This gap became a problem during Covid-19, when global chip supplies broke down, slowing production in many industries. The Indian government is now pushing to create a local semiconductor ecosystem to reduce risks. They are focusing first on assembly, test, and packaging—a critical step after chip fabrication. Ashok Chandak from the India Electronics and Semiconductor Association says several such plants will start mass production this year. Kaynes Semicon, based in Gujarat, is India’s first government-backed plant to assemble and test chips. It started production last November after investing $260 million. CEO Raghu Panicker explains, "Packaging is not just putting a chip in a box. It’s a complex 10 to 12 step process vital to making chips usable." Kaynes will produce chips mainly for cars, telecoms, and defense, not the latest AI or mobile phone chips. These simpler chips are more important for India’s economy and security. Panicker adds, "You build an industry by first serving your own market. Complexity can come later." Training skilled workers is a major challenge. Panicker says, "You cannot shortcut five years of experience into six months. That is our biggest bottleneck." Back at Tejas Networks, Arnob Roy looks forward to buying more locally made chips in the future. He says, "We expect a significant semiconductor manufacturing base to emerge in India over the next decade." He sees the long journey ahead but believes patient investment will help India design and make full telecom chipsets one day.