Sand plays a vital role in our daily lives. Used in its raw form, it is the foundation material for building homes. Purify the sand a little more and it becomes the foundation of the semiconductor industry.
India is currently waking up to its opportunities vis-à-vis semiconductors: access to the underlying technologies has been a long-standing dream of our nation. Success on this front would place India among a small, elite group of nations that have access to the tech as well as provide thousands of highly skilled jobs.
In a major setback, however, Foxconn Technology Group recently withdrew its support from its joint venture with Vedanta, Ltd. to establish a semiconductor manufacturing plant in Gujarat. The Indian government has also introduced incentives to catalyse this sector but only time will tell if they will bear fruit.
