India can tap new opportunities in chip design, mfg: Rajeev Chandrasekhar

India can tap new opportunities in areas like semiconductor design, electronic systems design and electronics manufacturing services, on top of its core capability over the next 5-7 years, Minister of State for Electronics and IT R Chandrasekhar said on Tuesday.

Speaking at the Microsoft Future Ready event, the Minister said the next wave of computing performance is going to come from software optimisation, semiconductor design, electronic systems design, and innovation.

"... We were software providers and now we can, in the next five to seven years, be software providers, we can be semi-conductor design providers. We can be ER&D providers, we can be electronic systems, design providers, and we can be electronics, manufacturing services providers.

"There is a whole new layering of opportunities on top of what our core capability was for the last 15, 20 years," he added.

Chandrasekhar noted the vision of building the USD 1 trillion digital economy in the country will be achieved in partnership with industry, entrepreneurs and academia.

"We are evangelists, we are advocates of what opportunities exist there, it is our job to work in partnership, evangelise, advocate, support, encourage, boost the entrepreneur's morale...We, at MeitY and the government of India will work in partnership to support and grow that...

"We are all in it together. If you are all in it together, the government, the industry, the youth in a framework of partnership and trust, we can truly realise this promise of the new India," he added.

The Minister said every corporate and government is now in a race to digitalise its governance, functions, services and business and is going through a huge disruptive transformation.

"That plays to the strengths of India. The next wave of computing performance is going to come from software optimization, semiconductor design, electronic systems design, and innovation," he added.

Talking about user data security amid rapid digitisation, Chandrasekhar said the internet in India will always be open, safe, trusted, and accountable.

"... The internet should always be open. And what I mean by open is that nobody, no state, no government, no big tech platforms can ever become a force that will, in any way, dilute the openness of the internet. Because of the proliferation of public services and the nature of the Indian user, which ranges from a child to a woman, to a man, to a pensioner and to an elderly, the internet has to be open," he said.

He emphasised that policy making has to assure that the internet is always safe and trusted.

"... The internet now is becoming a place of user harm, crime, and criminality. So, accountability of those who have commercial platforms on the internet to their users is a third aspect of our public policy objectives. It is clearly our determination, and it is our focus on our mission that the internet in India shall grow. India will become the largest connected country in the world," he added.