India faces semiconductor workforce skills gap as new industry grows
At SEMICON India 2026, experts emphasized that India’s push into semiconductor manufacturing faces a critical shortage of skilled professionals, with many of the specialized roles required not yet developed domestically.
Speaking at the event, Prof. Manoj Choudhary, Vice Chancellor of Gati Shakti Vishwavidyalaya, noted that prior to 2021, India had no semiconductor projects running, leaving a gap in skills such as process engineering, clean room operations, wafer probing, and materials handling in packaging. “Many of the new skills that we have not done before 2021 because there was no semiconductor project set up in the country,” he said.
“While in these projects, we might have sent many engineers to abroad, whether to Taiwan or to Malaysia elsewhere, as we set up more and more semiconductor projects under ISM 2.0, we need more and more people to be set up inside,” Choudhary added.
Choudhary also stressed the importance of aligning skilling efforts with future job requirements, particularly in device and system design. While India has strength in IC design, he said, there is growing demand for product specialists, system architects, and professionals capable of defining product specifications—skills essential for achieving Atmanirbhar Bharat goals.
Read Also: India asks EV sector to prove it can work without
Prof. Swaroop Ganguly of IIT-Bombay echoed these concerns, pointing out that while funding for research is often the focus of industry discussions, expert bandwidth and technical know-how are equally vital. “When industry puts some of its small amount of bandwidth of some of its best experts on the table that can really enrich both research and talent development programmes,” he said.
Bridging the Skills Gap
Hands-on training was identified as a major challenge by the panelists, with Prof. Shankar Selvaraja from IISc noting a disconnect between academic preparation and industry needs. “In terms of the baseline technical fundamentals that you want to incorporate, and what you need on the shop floor, they’re not necessarily the same,” he said, suggesting bridge courses for faster onboarding of new recruits.
Selvaraja emphasized the need for collaboration between academia and industry to shape curricula that meet real-world demands. “The idea here is you work with the industry to develop what they are looking for,” he added.
