We want India to account for 10% of Renesas' revenues: Malini Narayanamoorthi

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We want India to account for 10% of Renesas' revenues: Malini Narayanamoorthi

We want India to account for 10% of Renesas' revenues: Malini Narayanamoorthi

Articles
Jan 29,25

In this freewheeling interview with Rakesh Rao, Malini Narayanamoorthi, India Country Manager and VP of MID Engineering, Analog & Connectivity Group, Renesas, elaborates on challenges and opportunities in the semiconductor space for India

We want India to account for 10% of Renesas' revenues: Malini Narayanamoorthi

The Tokyo (Japan) headquartered Renesas Electronics Corporation is a global leader in microcontrollers, analog, power and SoC products. In India, it focusses on design and also supports the productising of chips for the market. Malini Narayanamoorthi, an experienced semiconductor professional with more than two decades of global experience in the semiconductor industry, is Renesas' India Country Manager and Vice President of MID (Memory Interface Division) Engineering, Analog & Connectivity Group. In this freewheeling interview with Rakesh Rao, Malini Narayanamoorthi elaborates on challenges and opportunities in the semiconductor space for India, and Renesas' growth plans.

How has been the journey of Renesas Electronics in India? How are you aiding the growth of the Indian electronics industry?

Renesas Electronics designs and manufactures a wide range of semiconductor products. Renesas focuses on embedded systems providing microcontrollers, system-on-chips (SoCs), analog semiconductors, power management ICs, and other solutions used in automotive, industrial, home electronics, edge computer and other sectors.

Renesas India focusses on design and also supports the productising of these chips for the market. Renesas was lesser known in India a few years ago, but that has changed significantly in the last couple of years as we focus on growth of high-performing engineering teams and continue to demonstrate our capabilities to the market. Given the significant growth potential of the Indian market, Renesas aims to expand its presence there, targeting it as one of its key markets. The goal is to increase its sales in India to account for over 10 per cent of the company's total revenue in the medium term. Additionally, Renesas aims to double our headcount in 2025 and continue to contribute to both chip design and system design aspects of the industry.

In 2020, our Hon'ble Prime Minister gave a kick-start to India’s vision of self-reliance (Athmanirbhar Bharath) through economic policies and incentives that included a focus on electronics and semiconductors. The end goal is to make India a product nation. Renesas is very well placed to support the growth of the electronics industry in India owing to our expertise in building embedded products. A good example is the joint venture announced in March last year with CG Power and Industrial Solutions, a subsidiary of the Indian conglomerate Murugappa Group, and Stars Microelectronics from Thailand for the construction of an OSAT facility. Construction of the factory in Sanand, Gujarat, has been underway since last year.

Recently, Renesas India also has partnered with a number of universities to implement university curriculum programs and internship opportunities, including the partnership with IIT Hyderabad announced in June 2024, which help students prepare for real-world engineering challenges. Skilling, as you are aware is a critical for the growth of the India semiconductor industry.

How has the electronics manufacturing landscape in India evolved in the last 5-6 years?

The India's electronics manufacturing landscape has evolved significantly in the last few years driven by government initiatives and increased investments.

In the 80s and 90s, we had Indian products like Videocon and Onida. But with the relaxation of import tariffs on foreign goods, Western companies gained a stronger presence, and as a result, many Indian brands gradually lost their market share. Thanks to this new ‘Make in India’ program promoting domestic manufacturing, we are back to a point where India wants to build its own products, and the government is fostering an ecosystem to make that happen. The drive towards self-reliance and to also make India a product nation is catalysing the electronics industry with the semiconductor design and manufacturing playing a key part of that.

What is the current status of the semiconductors industry in India? Is PLI Scheme aiding the industry’s growth?

Semiconductors are definitely a buzz word in Indian household today. This speaks to the focus from the governments that semiconductors play a key role in modern electronics and driving technological advancements. A few years ago, we were mostly looking at augmenting designs teams but today, we want to build self-reliance and build that ecosystem towards that goal. From a design standpoint, we are quite mature and there are Design Linked Incentive (DLI) schemes to help fast track indigenous designs. Through the PLI scheme, launched in 2020, we have been able to mobilise manufacturing in India and a few constructions are under way today including the CG Semi which is a JV that Renesas has with CG Power and Stars Microelectronics, as mentioned above. India also has a number of skilling programs burgeoning to address the talent challenges we may have in future.

The semiconductor industry in India is currently experiencing significant growth and transformation and the semiconductor market in India is projected to reach approximately $110 billion by 2030. These initiatives are expected to create a robust semiconductor ecosystem in India, promoting local manufacturing and reducing dependency on imports. Renesas is happy and proud to be a part of India’s semiconductor growth journey.

What are the key challenges and new opportunities before the semiconductor industry in India?

There is a huge opportunity ahead of us. Building a complete electronics ecosystem with the government backing opens up a lot of windows ranging from materials, design, equipment, tooling manufacturing etc. The DLI and PLI schemes open up a number of avenues for companies to move forward faster. This infrastructure also opens up the capability to build products for India needs as opposed to back fitting.

With opportunity comes the challenges as well. We do have to steadily build up every piece of the puzzle. Setting up manufacturing for semiconductors takes time, resources like uninterrupted electricity and trained manpower.

What trends do you see shaping the future of the semiconductor industry?

The semiconductor industry will be driven by the macro trends that we see in the industry including AI, autonomous driving, sustainable electronics, edge computing, and electric vehicles, to name a few. Apart from technology, the geopolitics and the need for supply chain self-reliance is also driving the industry in different countries.

Renesas is very well placed in being able to serve all these markets with our vast offerings in the microcontroller, microprocessor, power, analog and connectivity spaces. The relationship between Japan and India is very collaborative and this enables progress.

What are your growth plans for Renesas in India?

Renesas in India has presence in Bangalore, NCR region, Hyderabad, and Pune with focus on both chip design teams as well as systems and application teams. We are also a minority stakeholder in a joint venture with CG Power, called CG Semi whose assembly, testing, marking, and packaging (ATMP) facility is being built in Sanand, Gujarat. Renesas is focusing on India as one of its most important markets.

In line with our company's purpose, “To Make Our Lives Easier”, we are expanding the provision of combinations of multiple products (Winning Combinations) as well as solutions that improve user experience (UX) through digitalization, including software and tools. Renesas India is growing across all locations, and we aspire to have doubled our head count by 2025, as mentioned above. We aspire to be an employer of choice in this growth journey.