India was well ahead of world in Semiconductor fabrication in 1980s , till a mysterious Fire accident occurred in a Government Laboratory in Mohali. Today a similar incident in the Tata's Apple Fire incident. History seems to repeat or am I reading too much?
India's dream to grow in Semiconductors is not new. In 1976 then Indian cabinet led by then Prime minister Indira Gandhi took a decision to make India the leader of semi-conductor fabrication and established the Semiconductor Complex Limited (SCL) in Mohali Punjab.
SCL started actual production in 1984 and the stage was set for India to make significant strides in the semiconductor industry and potentially emerge as a global player.
On February 7, 1989, tragedy struck when a mysterious fire broke out at the SCL facility in Mohali. The fire caused extensive damage to imported equipment and facilities, estimated to be worth Rs 60 crore. The Intelligence Bureau (IB) investigated , but no conclusive causes were found.
Cut to today, India was getting famous to meet almost 20% of Global Iphone production. Tata's Indian Apple - Iphone manufacturing plant , the big piece of that puzzle though, caught a huge fire very recently on the onset of mega demand projection owing to the upcoming Christmas , Dussehra , Deepwali festivals & holidays. Now the plant is closed INDEFINITELY.
Now to meet the demand , Apple is again looking back to China for production.
I know this may be Apples & Oranges comparision on both the accidents , but may be .... there's a link.
Somehow when ever India seems to grow there are accidents setting us back years together.
For the SCL Fire Accident, it took 8 long years to come back to status quo for India. In that time, Dragon raced away to the win. If it were not for just that one accident , we probably would not be playing catch up now with the whole world in Manufacturing sector. 😔
I am sure we did not have the technology to investigate back then ( if we are told - so ) , but I am sure today we can nail down the cause of fire.
These incidents remind us of other setbacks, like the Nambi Narayanan case in India's space program. They raise crucial questions about protecting our nation's technological advancements.
What are your thoughts? Is this a pattern we should be concerned about, or am I reading too much into these events?
#IndianTech #Semiconductors #ManufacturingInIndia #TechSecurity