serenity
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Semiconductor Complex Limited (SCL)
Semiconductor Complex Limited (SCL), Design and Manufacturingwww.nti.org
India has ability to manufacture 128nm nodes and aims for sub 100nm for scaled production.
It is not sanctioned and has one foundry using only foreign equipment and tooling.
China has dozens of foundries making various chip types some use foreign equipment and tooling but there are several that are totally cut off and only use Chinese ones.
Military chips don't care about 7nm or 128nm. They care more about shielding. There is hardly an issue for military chip supply. Or space etc. At least for basic consideration. A fighter aircraft using 7nm chips will have better processing than another using 128nm tech.
India's chip foundry is legacy using only foreign equipment and processes. Truth is China's foundries are legacy, mature, and leading edge using various equipment and processes that the foundries themselves have and do not rely on anyone else. The state ones are more or less totally cut off except in some cases where they can purchase a complete tool. It has made steps to totally make everything in house and has achieved this long ago but only with legacy and mature nodes. Only in recent years has some steps for leading edge nodes become mastered and using domestic equipment.
For example Qualcomm has used China's SMIC in the past to make one their designs. Qualcomm is fabless btw. E.g. like Huawei's hisilicon used to get TSMC to make their designs.
What I'm saying is no one is fully vertically and horizontally integrated except South Korea but Japan and China and USA are the closest behind in terms of leading edge and Taiwan too. Taiwan has lots of parts missing too for example they use Dutch asml euvl.
India doesn't make any of the important tooling and equipment for even 128nm fab processes. This is well in legacy nodes but it is fine for military chips. Just not as powerful and effective as more transistors though. It can of course supply those legacy chips but ask India to make even a 28nm node chip and it cannot and who knows how long until it can.
TSMC or anyone opening a factory in India to make 5nm let's day doesn't mean this is India's own. If India makes all the equipment and understands the processes, then it can be called an Indian 5nm chip but the industrial and scientific base required to achieve that simply isn't there. One can say and believe whatever no more than Malaysia and Thailand making 28nm under contract means they can make 28nm independently.
There's much more detail in this potentially confusing topic to navigate and explain so quickly but I hope those reading understand somewhat.