India roundup: India's chip strategy tests its ability to build a competitive ecosystem

India’s push beyond assembly into domestic semiconductor manufacturing—via subsidies, import tariffs, and tightened FDI scrutiny—is reshaping South Asia’s electronics supply chain. Technically, this forces localization of EDA, advanced packaging, and materials, yet without a robust IP ecosystem or skilled workforce, nodes beyond 28nm remain out of reach. Regulatory volatility has already raised operational costs for multinationals, especially OSAT firms reliant on mature capacity from Taiwan, China. Regionally, Vietnam and Malaysia are capitalizing on this uncertainty, reinforcing their OSAT advantages to divert investment away from India’s riskier landscape. Over the next 12–24 months, India may see policy-driven fab clusters emerge, but without closing the design-manufacturing-equipment loop, its ecosystem will stay dependent on U.S., Japanese, and Korean tech flows—and fall short of disrupting East Asia’s entrenched semiconductor triad.