India missed the chip bus. Now it’s playing catch up

Semiconductors, also called chips, often no bigger than a fingernail, are the backbone of the modern digital economy. These small chips carry enormous economic and strategic power. So much so, the race to manufacture more and more advanced chips has been likened to the nuclear race of the Cold War era. When chips have become a big issue between the US and China for their use in advanced civil and military technologies, including AI, India has just taken its first step towards chip manufacturing.