South Korea and Taiwan just overtook India in global stock market rankings. Most people think this happened because of AI.
I think it happened because of decisions taken decades ago. Here's why:
๐ญ. ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ป๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ ๐ฏ๐ผ๐ผ๐บ ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป'๐ ๐ฏ๐๐ถ๐น๐ ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ป๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐
- Today, companies like Samsung, SK Hynix and TSMC are worth trillions because the world needs their chips.
- AI may be the trigger but the foundations were laid 30-40 years ago.
- Governments backed them, Industries were nurtured.
Ecosystems were built.
And now the world is paying for it.
๐ฎ. ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐ผ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐๐ป๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ผ๐ผ
- Over the years, companies like Fairchild, Texas Instruments and Intel explored setting up semiconductor manufacturing in India.
- Many of those opportunities never materialised.
- Some were lost to policy indecision and others got buried under regulatory delays.
- The result is that while others built semiconductor ecosystems, India largely remained a consumer of technology rather than a manufacturer of it.
๐ฏ. ๐ง๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ถ๐๐ป'๐ ๐ท๐๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐๐ผ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ธ๐ฒ๐๐
- The headline says South Korea and Taiwan overtook India.
- But the real story is much bigger.
- Semiconductors power Smartphones, Electric vehicles, Data centres and Artificial Intelligence
- Countries that dominate chips increasingly influence the future of technology itself.
๐ฐ. ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ฒ
- When AI created enormous wealth over the last few years, investors had clear winners to back such as -
โข Samsung
โข SK Hynix
โข TSMC
- India did not have a comparable semiconductor champion listed on its exchanges.
- That gap is now visible in market rankings.
๐ฑ. ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ด๐ผ๐ผ๐ฑ ๐ป๐ฒ๐๐
- Under the India Semiconductor Mission, the government has committed billions of dollars in incentives to build a domestic chip ecosystem.
- Nearly 10 semiconductor-related projects are currently under construction across different states.
- Global players like Micron have announced investments in India, while partnerships such as Tata-Powerchip and CG Power-Renesas are helping build capabilities in chip manufacturing and packaging.
- India also unveiled its first indigenous 32-bit processor, Vikram, in 2025โan important milestone in a sector where the country has historically lagged behind.
- For the first time in a long time, India is no longer watching from the sidelines.
It is finally stepping onto the field.
Countries don't become leaders when the opportunity arrives.They become leaders when they prepare years before the opportunity arrives.
South Korea and Taiwan are enjoying the rewards of bets placed decades ago. The question for India is What are we building today that the world will depend on in 2040?