NEW DELHI, INDIA — As India aims to position itself as a major chip manufacturing hub, experts are sounding alarms about the potential strain on the country's already precarious water resources. With large swaths of the nation grappling with acute water scarcity during the grueling summer months, the water-intensive nature of semiconductor manufacturing plants has raised concerns.
Semiconductor chips are used in almost all kinds of electronic devices, from smartphones and televisions to cars, missiles, rockets, and other military weapons. With approximately 2,000 chips designed every year and over 20,000 professionals working on various elements of chip design and verification, India is fast becoming a semiconductor design hot spot.
With an ambitious $10 billion incentive plan to attract semiconductor manufacturers, which will create at least 1.2 million jobs and create a $55 billion market value by 2026, and brand itself as an electronics hub, India is working hard toward becoming the next chip destination.
About the author
Cheena Kapoorcheenakapoor
Cheena Kapoor is a Delhi-based independent journalist and photographer focusing on health, environmental, and social issues. Her work has been published by The Guardian, The Telegraph, Reuters, BBC, and Al Jazeera, among many others. Her long-term project "Forgotten daughters" about abandoned women in Indian mental asylums has been widely published and exhibited across Europe. Follow Cheena on Twitter and Instagram.