Category: Technology

Golden era of Indian architecture

Recently I had the opportunity to visit the temple at Avudayarkoil, a not so famous temple built by Manikkavachagar in the third century. I was spellbound by the uniqueness of Sivite temple – it has no ‘physical’ deity – it is  ‘atma’ – atmanabhar. The presiding deity is formless (Atmanatar); there is no Śivalingam but only a pedestal (Āvudayār) located in the sanctum, hence the name Avudayar Koil. The God faces South in this temple- in Dakshinamurthy or Guru form.

God is formless; though it would be difficult to focus the mind in emptiness for the common mortals, it is the truth and this philosophy is the theme of this temple.

Here, there is no nandhi dev. No Dhakshunamurthy, no kalabhairav etc., one can see the garbagruha right from the entrance of the temple as there are no Nandhi, flagstaff or Balipeetam.The garbagruha is south facing unlike the tradition of deity facing east!

What struck me most are the sculptures in the temple – intricacy is something astounding… unlike in Belur, Halabedu which are made of sandstones that are soft, these are of hard granite. I am not sure whether they are built in the early 3rd century period or added during Vijayanagara dynasty… but according to local folklores, the temple was built by ‘ghosts’! But, yes, it requires a gargantuan effort to build a temple of this size and stature! 

Many west leaning historians believe ‘but for English rule before independence, India would not have prospered – be it railways, bridges and many colony buildings’! But they turn a blind eye to the architectural acumen that existed in the pre-British period of occupation!!

Though right from the sangam period, the South Indian temple architecture has taken roots as early as 3rd century AD, it has matured into a full-fledged technology over several centuries starting from early Pandyas, then Pallavas, cholas and later Vijayanagar dynasties up to 17th century. Later stunted by mogul dynasty and death knell during British era. What is remaining in these temples deserves to be preserved as a mark of respect to our ancestors..

My recent visit included a few more temples – Srirangam, Thiruvanaikkaval, Thirumayam. There are many more such temples that trumpet the grandeur of the rich tradition and the art farm, very little effort is put to lure the tourists. Government should exploit this rich cultural treasure economically – the west would have milched even with a single temple! 

Granite statue @ Avudayar Koil
Another Granite statue @ Avudayar Koil
Yet another Granite statue @ Avudayar Koil
Narasimha tearing Hitayanyakasipu’s stomach
Could you believe this is made of stone pieces and not of wood! This is in Avudayarkoil.
Avudayar Koil gopuram

Story of messed up opportunities – India’s IC saga

When Texas Instruments and Fairchild were expanding their chip assembly capabilities in late 60’s, Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore grabbed the opportunity. Today Taiwan has become so integrated in the international supply chain, that it has become a political insurance against Chinese aggression. US would go to any length to protect its business interests in tiny Taiwan at any cost. But sadly India lost in this game why?

In the 1960s, at the beginning of the silicon revolution, Fairchild Semiconductor considered building a fab here, but bureaucratic lethargy chased them away to Malaysia.

After the 1962 war, Bharat Electronics Ltd. set up a fab to manufacture silicon and germanium transistors. When cheaper integrated circuits (ICs) from China, Taiwan, and South Korea entered the market, BEL couldn’t match global quality and price standards, and many of the fab units had to be shut down.

In the mid-1980s, Metkem Silicon Limited which, in partnership with Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), produced polysilicon wafers for solar cells and electronics. This could have catalyzed an electronics revolution in India. Unfortunately, without governmental support, especially the promised supply of subsidised electricity, Metkem couldn’t produce high quality polysilicon wafers.

The most tragic story is that of Semiconductor Complex Ltd. (SCL), Chandigarh. Starting with a 5000 nm process in 1984, SCL rapidly advanced to the 800 nm technology, which was the cutting edge only a year or two before. At that time China and Taiwan had not even entered the fab space. Intriguingly, the entire complex was gutted in a devastating fire in 1989, and our semiconductor progress was set back by a decade! ISRO revived SCL and used it for low volume manufacture of chips for its programs, but it is only a shadow of what it could have been.

DRDO’s fabrication and packaging units, GAETEC, STARC, and SITAR were set up for strategic use by Defence and ISRO. “Unless fab is made on a large scale it’s not economical. There is no state-of-the-art fab for high-end, commercial semiconductors. Equipment was imported and each time there was a failure we had to depend on experts from abroad. We made just 5,000- 10,000 chips per year”, says Dr. K.D. Nayak, former Director-General DRDO.

In mid-2005, a major multinational semiconductor company started operations in South India, hired seasoned experts, and set up a class100 cleanroom for checking impurities of semiconductors. Facing roadblocks at each step, the endeavor became a stillborn child. Equipment imported from the US was stuck at the port for several months. Leave alone any concessions, they were levied heavy import duties and had to pay huge sums as demurrage. Several trips to South Block to convince the government did nothing to move the bureaucratic needle. Eventually, the equipment left India without touching its soil. China grabbed this opportunity and welcomed the project, giving the company everything it needed. India not only lost a good semiconductor facility, but also gave away 4000 jobs to China. Another multinational semiconductor company in the process of setting up their fab here withdrew after seeing the horrific experience of this MNC! As for the cleanroom, it was sold as scrap.

Dr. Manmohan Singh’s government allocated Rs. 39,000 crore in 2012-13 to build two fabs. JP group, along with IBM and HSMC bid for it. The Gujarat government readily offered all the infrastructure and allocated 300 acres land around Gandhinagar. Unfortunately, HSMC could not assure their investors an encouraging market in India, and the bidders withdrew. An earlier plan in 2005 for an impressive 200-acre fab city outside Hyderabad, which would have created an ecosystem for fab and other semiconductor companies failed miserably. The land allocated then became a lucrative real estate deal!

“Every ten years, there is a fab cycle and if we miss it now, we will miss it for the next ten years”, cautions Uma Mahesh, co-founder of Innatera. “This is a mammoth business, technology changes fast. Intel was almost catching up on everything till 14 nm and they couldn’t get to 10 nm fast enough. TSMC overtook Intel and announced their 7 nm chip. Soon they will be ready with their 5 nm and 3 nm chips. In the semiconductor business speed matters, we must drive our R&D aggressively. Partnering with academia and a relook at the curriculum in our technical institutions is important”, says Shiv Turmari, semiconductor expert and consultant.

Governmental support is vital. US has offered $25 billion to TSMC to set up a fab in Arizona and proposed $52 bn in funding through the CHIPS Act to subsidize companies to make their chips in the US. Chip shortage, global pandemic, supply chain issues, and geopolitical tensions in Taiwan have made an alternative fab location an attractive proposition. India must seize this opportunity to reenter the chip manufacturing game. In December 2021, the Indian government announced a funding of Rs 2,30,000 crore ($30.7 billion) towards semiconductor manufacturing, aiming to position India as a global hub for electronics manufacturing. Now, semiconductor experts are upbeat.

“Four well thought of schemes were announced in December, giving a push for ‘make in India’, laying out a red carpet to investors. MeitY (Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology) secretaries are personally in discussion with anyone who shows interest. I’m seeing a very positive environment to attract industry” says Sanjeev Keskar, semiconductor veteran and CEO, Arvind Consultants.

Many nations, including India, are wooing TSMC, the largest chip manufacturer. Reports suggest that TSMC might partner with Tata Group to set up a fab in India, with the possible involvement of Raja Manickam, founder-CEO of Tessolve. “We must create an ecosystem for TSMC to want to come to India. Tatas carry the stamp of credibility; the world trusts them. TSMC partnering with Tatas is the best thing that could happen”, says Uma Mahesh. “In my 35 years of being in DRDO, this is the first time I’m seeing a policy from the government towards the semiconductor industry. This also needs political stability, in the next few decades whichever government that comes in, they must handhold the industry and make it succeed”, says Dr. M. U. Sharma, former Director, SSPL.

In 1987, India was just two years behind the latest chip manufacturing technology. Today, India is 12 generations behind!

Is it a reason to lament – may be not. Advocates of the chip manufacturing dream point to China not getting a break through in this tiny world of chip fab. Through huge tax breaks, upwards of $50 billion in semiconductor funding in just the last decade, and over two decades of persistence, China has gone from manufacturing none of the world’s chips in 2000 to 16% in 2020! It is unlike China in other fields!

Yes China’s story is less inspiring on closer examination. Chinese chip manufacturers are at least five years behind the leaders in terms of technology, despite investment and time. Chinese chips are mostly commodity memory chips as opposed to high-end semiconductors. U.S. and E.U. export controls on semiconductor technologies may only widen the gap. China may be able to develop some of these technologies domestically, but doing so may require at least a decade. If anything, China serves as a cautionary tale for new entrants, demonstrating that decades of effort and billions in capital investment aren’t enough to assure success.

With proper support, such as preferential access to a domestic market, India could build a thriving, cutting-edge local fabless chip design industry, much like Israel’s. These firms would design and sell their own chips, but outsource manufacturing to a third-party. Such a move would help India climb the semiconductor value chain, while also making its electronics sector more trustworthy and provide some cushion against export controls.

In addition, recently-developed strengths in assembly and testing should be leveraged to develop world-class industries in Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT) and Assembly, Test, Marking and Packaging (ATMP) industries. OSAT tests and packages manufactured chips, which are then shipped to ATMP houses that assemble the chips and create working electronic systems.

Combined, design, OSAT, and ATMP represent over 50% of semiconductor supply chain revenue. These parts of the supply chain also employ more people and are cheaper to set up, making them a much better fit for India. 

So, the present strategy of Indian government to set up fabrication plant may not necessarily be the only sure and safe bet of becoming a significant player in this business. Down the line, the strategy can be tweaked, anyway, to suit the market.

Both the U.S. and the E.U. are looking at new supply chains that exclude China. India can use its relationships to plug into these non-manufacturing components of the supply chain. That approach might be far more likely to pay off for India than chasing the chip manufacturing dream.

This is the story of how India missed the bus due to bureaucratic muddle. But anyway, India was that way then! Let us at least hope at least now, India would catch up in this technology that is going to be the vital key in the coming decade! It is not an impossible task!