“Productizing an IP, to make it right into a product, is the place the cash is,” remarks Raja Manickam, a semiconductor business veteran with 4 a long time of business expertise and Founder & CEO, iVP Semi, in an unique interplay with the ELE Instances at Semicon India 2025. That is amidst the central authorities empowering the semiconductor business via numerous schemes, together with the DLI scheme with a capital outlay of round Rs 1,000 Crore.
Emphasizing his international outlook, Mr. Manickam attracts parallels with chip giants to border India’s semiconductor journey inside a bigger international imaginative and prescient. He asserts, “Creating IP isn’t the problem for us in any respect. The parable is that we want IP to make a product.” Difficult this notion, he stresses that IP alone doesn’t outline requirements within the semiconductor business. As a substitute, he urges India to deal with constructing stronger pathways to productization, which he believes is essential to enabling a whole and sustainable ecosystem.
Focus On Substantial Worth Addition
By drawing on examples of worldwide chip manufacturers, he reimagines India’s journey in semiconductors and electronics via a world lens.“Product firms take advantage of cash out of the entire worth chain and might construct globally recognizable manufacturers like NVIDIA or AMD,” he explains. Highlighting how each semiconductor crosses numerous levels earlier than turning into a part of a last product, he factors out that true worth lies not simply in designing chips however in constructing robust product firms that may scale globally.
He additionally refers to his firm, iVP Semi, which emphasizes growing tangible merchandise equivalent to DC-DC inverters, relays, solid-state relays, energy modules, and powertrains, as an alternative of pursuing an IP-licensing mannequin. iVP Semi displays a deliberate and measured imaginative and prescient, formed by Mr. Manickam’s long-standing dedication to fostering homegrown product firms.
With this attitude, he calls consideration to the urgent want for a holistic semiconductor ecosystem—one which nurtures each expertise and worth creation, anchored in a long-term and dependable imaginative and prescient.
Figuring Out the Techniques Method
He says,” To make a chip, they want a number of IPs. They might have one IP or they might not even have an IP,” referring to the chip giants. “However they’ve found out learn how to put all these IPs collectively and make a product,” he provides, additional validating his stance.
Within the dialog surrounding Design IPs, he appears to have a actually completely different opinion that focuses on realigning India’s semiconductor ambitions in direction of realizing a methods method that holds greater potential and might garner substantial and long-term worth for the Indian expertise and financial system, each.
Give attention to Startups
With this method in thoughts and a quest to see India attain this potential, he urges large firms and companies to undertake small firms and assist them with capital and expertise, each to grasp this dream. He says,” So, my philosophy is to undertake these guys. However don’t have a look at it from an ROI,” because the dialog wraps up.
| Raja Manickam, an IIT Kharagpur graduate, is a semiconductor veteran who based Tessolve in 2003, rising it right into a 1,000-crore international chief earlier than its acquisition by Hero Electronix. He later served as the primary CEO of TATA Electronics OSAT and based Ponni Tech Consultants in 2023. In 2024, he launched iVP Semi to localize chip manufacturing and drive India’s semiconductor self-reliance. His imaginative and prescient is to construct a strong ecosystem that pulls international companions to India. |
