For the past few years, India’s semiconductor story has largely been defined by assembly, testing and packaging. Facilities for Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT) and Assembly, Test, Marking and Packaging (ATMP) have gone live, chip packaging and testing units have begun operations, and the country has steadily built capabilities across this critical segment of the semiconductor value chain.
That story is now entering a new chapter.
With semiconductor fabrication projects announced under India’s Semiconductor Mission (ISM) initiatives, the country is taking significant steps toward expanding domestic semiconductor manufacturing capabilities. It is a shift that changes far more than where a chip is manufactured; it fundamentally changes what testing means. The focus moves from validating finished chips to understanding the purity, chemistry and behaviour of the materials and processes that underpin successful semiconductor manufacturing.
Globally, semiconductor manufacturers increasingly rely on advanced analytical measurement technologies to help monitor contamination, characterize materials and validate process chemicals throughout wafer fabrication. As India moves into fabrication, these capabilities will become increasingly important to the country’s semiconductor manufacturing ecosystem.
The OSAT story was only the beginning
Assembly, test and packaging facilities work with wafers or dies that have already been fabricated elsewhere. Their testing requirements, while rigorous, are primarily focused on the finished or near-finished device—electrical performance, mechanical reliability, packaging integrity and functional verification. India has built significant capability in this space, with several facilities now operating at commercial scale.
However, these activities sit at the back end of semiconductor manufacturing. They answer an important question: Does the finished chip perform as intended?
Wafer fabrication asks a very different question altogether:
Are the materials, chemicals and manufacturing processes pure, stable and consistent enough to produce high-quality chips in the first place?
That distinction fundamentally changes the scientific capabilities required to support the industry.
Analytical science plays a foundational role in fabrication
Unlike assembly and packaging, wafer fabrication is a chemistry-intensive process where even trace levels of contamination can influence manufacturing yield, product performance and long-term reliability.
Every fabrication facility depends on an uninterrupted supply of semiconductor-grade silicon, specialty gases, process chemicals and ultrapure water. Industry best practices increasingly include monitoring of inorganic and organic impurities, and nanoparticles across raw materials, process chemicals, ultrapure water and silicon wafers, as contamination at ultra-trace levels can significantly impact manufacturing yields and device reliability. Success depends on the ability to detect and control impurities at trace levels, characterize complex materials, monitor process chemistries and ensure consistent manufacturing conditions across thousands of process steps involved in fabrication.
Three areas illustrate this shift particularly well.
Raw material qualification
Every fabrication process begins with ultra-high-purity materials. Semiconductor-grade silicon, electronic chemicals and specialty gases require rigorous screening for trace impurities before entering production. Even contaminants present at parts-per-billion or parts-per-trillion levels can affect device performance and manufacturing yield. Industry literature commonly cites semiconductor-grade silicon purity levels in the range of 9N to 11N, illustrating the importance of detecting contaminants at extremely low concentrations before production begins.
Materials characterisation for advanced process chemistry
Lithography, deposition and etching processes rely on highly specialised materials whose chemical composition and consistency directly influence manufacturing precision. Understanding these materials at the molecular level helps ensure process stability and supports consistent device performance across production batches.
Nanoparticle and contamination analysis
Modern semiconductor manufacturing demands extraordinary cleanliness. As semiconductor architectures continue to evolve, manufacturers are placing increasing emphasis on nanoparticle monitoring because even trace levels of metallic nanoparticle contamination can affect device performance, yield and long-term reliability. Advanced analytical approaches are therefore becoming integral to contamination control strategies throughout semiconductor supply chains. Detecting these contaminants requires advanced analytical capabilities well beyond conventional inspection techniques.
These are not simply additional quality checks introduced during fabrication. They represent an entirely different layer of scientific capability centred on understanding materials at elemental, molecular and nanoscale levels. As India moves upstream into wafer fabrication, analytical science becomes integral to manufacturing itself rather than an activity performed after production.
From quality control to manufacturing confidence
Ultimately, every semiconductor manufacturer pursues three outcomes: quality, yield and reliability.
Achieving these outcomes depends on far more than sophisticated manufacturing equipment. It requires continuous analytical measurement to validate raw materials, monitor process consistency, detect contamination and characterise materials throughout production.
Precision measurement provides manufacturers with the confidence to identify process variations before they become production losses, helping improve manufacturing efficiency while supporting consistent product quality.
Building a scientific ecosystem, not just fabrication capacity
The transition from assembly to fabrication represents more than an expansion of manufacturing capability, it requires the development of an entirely new scientific ecosystem.
Closing this capability gap will require investment not only in fabrication facilities, but also in analytical laboratories, measurement infrastructure, specialised instrumentation and highly skilled scientific talent capable of supporting advanced semiconductor manufacturing.
This has implications well beyond individual fabs. The opportunity extends across the supplier ecosystem. Producers of electronic chemicals, specialty gases, ultrapure water systems, silicon materials, packaging materials and semiconductor consumables will require progressively more sophisticated analytical capabilities to meet semiconductor-grade specifications, support quality objectives and align with globally competitive manufacturing standards.
In many ways, India’s upstream journey will be defined not only by the fabs it builds, but by the scientific and analytical testing infrastructure that develops around them.
A capability with relevance far beyond semiconductors
Analytical capabilities—such as trace-impurity analysis, contamination monitoring, material characterization, and precision measurement—are foundational to semiconductor fabrication. However, their value extends far beyond chip manufacturing. The same analytical disciplines are equally critical to sectors like batteries, advanced materials, critical minerals, pharmaceuticals, and green hydrogen, where they ensure product quality, consistency, and regulatory compliance. As India expands its high-value manufacturing footprint, advanced analytical science is emerging as a critical common enabler across multiple strategic industries.
Looking ahead
India has successfully demonstrated its ability to build a competitive assembly, testing and packaging ecosystem. The country’s next challenge is different.
Success in wafer fabrication will depend not only on engineering excellence, but also on the ability to build advanced capabilities in materials science, analytical measurement and process control.
India’s semiconductor ambitions will ultimately be judged not by the number of fabs it announces, but by the consistency, quality and reliability of every wafer that leaves them. Achieving that will depend on an often-invisible capability – analytical science.
