I clearly see India as a site for future fabs (semiconductor manufacturing centers), primarily due to the presence of a large talent pool that enables a robust semiconductor industry as well as a strong, quickly growing consumer electronics marketplace that will demand an increasing number of chips.

Currently, all of these chips are imported. A fab will complement the growing semiconductor industry already implemented, such as India’s many chip designs and fabless chip companies, as well as one of the world’s largest pools of university-educated, English speaking programmers and engineers.

I envision that five years from now the shrinking chip size will continue to affect the performance of consumer electronics devices like televisions and wireless devices such as PDAs, which are a hallmark of technological improvement in the field of chip design.

This field has large growth potential and countries like China, Taiwan and Japan are leaders in manufacturing. India so far has focused more on the field of chip design as the country has a number of professional colleges to cater to this market.

India should have no problem being one of the leaders in the world of chip design, as plenty of talent is readily available. India presents a huge market opportunity for semiconductor manufacturing as it has a large middle class population, comparable to China where the semiconductor market has grown rapidly over the last few years, accompanied by the establishment of many new semiconductor fabs.

Currently, the middle class is demanding more electronic devices and purchasing items with electronics content like automobiles. Today’s automobiles have higher value with included electronics than the steel they are produced with.

Our specialized field of semiconductor manufacturing is presently a trillion dollar business. Our field involves some of the most complicated processes and high-end technologies requiring billions of dollars in investment. Today’s small cell phones, lightweight portable computers and other small electronic devices with powerful processing capabilities are the result of the industry’s continual drive to produce more powerful, portable and affordable devices.

To build these processors, India needs to introduce the advanced mechanical, electrical, and system level design capabilities needed for equipment development. The country already has some of the infrastructure (although much of this could also be upgraded) in terms of power and water the industry also requires. Expanding the country’s capabilities in hardware manufacturing and design would be an important step in moving India into the core of the semiconductor chip manufacturing industry.

Semiconductor product development requires high levels of technology talent and competent scientists because it demands clinical efficiency. We have the availability of right talent in India. The only reason India doesn’t have a fab is that it doesn’t allude to the fact that India has everything it needs.

It just requires a smart investor to stand up and build the country’s first commercial fab to demonstrate how it can be done.