Micron's 800 million dollar semiconductor plant, followed by recent approval to the Tata Group and CG Power for fabrication and Assembly, Testing and Packaging (ATP) plants with an investment of 1,30,000 crore rupees (and more in the pipeline), are the beginning of a transformational global supply chain shift centred around chip manufacturing in India. This will create a multiplier effect on the talented and skilled workforce inside India.

It is a matter of pride that almost one-third of the global semiconductor talent pool is Indian. However, the need for a domestic semiconductor workforce is estimated to be around 3,00,000 by 2026.

In addition, there is also a huge manpower requirement of almost six million in the electronics manufacturing sector, which will be the largest beneficiary of this chip boom. The current output of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) graduates from India's higher education institutions is inadequate. The growth is certainly going to come from the non-IITian orbit, and the policy pathways of the Ministries of Electronics and IT and of Education converge to present bountiful opportunities for industry and academia to work together.

This industry-academia synergy was key to India's software success story. Now a similar trifecta of government, industry and academia is needed to make this a winning semicon trio.