Siliconpolitik
The Siliconpolitik Project seeks to answer two main questions: How do semiconductors play a role in changing the global technology landscape? And what role does India have to play in it?
The Siliconpolitik Approach
Semiconductors have become a domain of hectic geopolitical contestation. The supply chain’s geopolitical vulnerability has sparked a spate of industrial policies aiming to indigenise semiconductor supply chain production. We, at the Takshashila Institution believe that India should play a different game — it should leverage its comparative advantage in semiconductor design to occupy strategic points in the supply chain.
Semiconductors are meta-critical because there are geopolitical, geoeconomic, & technological imperatives for securing access to semiconductors. The COVID-19 pandemic and the geographic concentration of semiconductor manufacturing have exposed the vulnerabilities of the semiconductor supply chain.
In response, many nation-states are offering subsidies in the hope of nationalising the semiconductor supply chain. In this geopolitical context, the Siliconpolitik project will propose a way forward for India to secure its strategic interests in this domain.
Featured Book
When the Chips Are Down
Pranay Kotasthane & Abhiram Manchi | Bloomsbury, 2024
This comprehensive examination explores semiconductors as a geopolitically critical technology — tracing why certain nations became dominant in chip manufacturing, examining China’s semiconductor ambitions, and charting a course for India to secure its strategic interests in this domain. Also available in Arabic translation (المستقبل للأبحاث والدراسات المتقدمة).
In the Media
Our work has been cited in The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, The Hindu, CNBC, Rest of World, and others.
- The Wall Street Journal — India’s Manufacturing Push Takes an Audacious Gamble on Chips
- The Economist — India’s New Chip Fab Rises from the Dust
- The Hindu — Explained: Mapping India’s Chip Design Ecosystem
- CNBC — Huawei Says It Developed Chip Design Tools Despite US Sanctions
- Rest of World — The US-China Chip War Comes to India
Featured Tool
Latest Analysis
Blogs
Investigating the Potential of Pax Silica
India Formally Joins the Pax Silica
Calm Down and Keep Executing
Challenges and Opportunities for India-Japan Semiconductor Collaboration
Public Policy and the Omniabsent State
Pax Silica Minus India
Op-Eds
Talks & Presentations
UnMoored: Charting the Future of the Semiconductor Industry Bangalore International Centre | November 2022
Siliconpolitik: The Geopolitics of the Semiconductor Industry November 2021
Chip Industry, Globalisation & National Security CNBC | July 2023
Discussion on Semicon India 2023 and India Semiconductor Mission All India Radio | July 2023
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Latest Videos
Dr. Nithiyanandam on The New Indian Express | India - China talking peace, but preparing for war?
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Dr. Nithiyanandam on The Indian Express | Explained: What Will be The Impact of China's Yarlung Tsangpo Dam Project
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Dr. Nithiyanandam on The Federal | China’s Yarlung-Tsangpo dam on Brahmaputra could threaten India
Learn moreTeaching
Pranay Kotasthane teaches on semiconductor geopolitics as part of Takshashila’s graduate programmes. Topics covered include India’s semiconductor policy, the geopolitics of chip supply chains, and technology strategy for policymakers.
Meet the Siliconpolitik Team
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