R&D gets a rethink as government bets big on global semiconductor race

Representative image. Source: Shutterstock

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) is aiming to revisit its priorities and strategies for research and development (R&D) and is planning to come out with a programme management framework for all such projects.

A meeting was held in this regard on August 6 between MeitY’s R&D and High Tech Advisory Group along with representatives of the industry, startups and so on. Minister of State in IT ministry Rajeev Chandrasekhar chaired the meeting.

Several divisions of the ministry have their separate R&D wings. At any given point, in subjects such as electronics, cybersecurity, communications, the ministry has over 100 R&D projects in the pipeline in institutions such as IITs, C-DAC and so on.

The agenda of the September 6 meeting was to give a thrust to R&D with the aim that such projects should lead to development of products.

With the government betting big on the development of semiconductors in the country, through R&D, the aim is also that new products in this area should be developed, a source said.

An emphasis was also given on developing products over which the government can have complete control over the supply chain, a source said.

For instance, the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System or NavIC, which is an alternative to GPS, is entirely controlled by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

In the future, this expert advisory committee is expected to sit down two-three times a month, and also submit a white paper outlining a roadmap for the next two years.

Few startups also attended the meeting, sources said, with one startup making a presentation and requesting the ministry to sponsor R&D projects.