The Economist - USA (2019-10-05)

34 Asia The EconomistOctober 5th 2019

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nformationtechnologycan makea

goodclaimtobeingIndia’sbiggestand

mostsuccessfulindustry.Techhubssuch

as Bengaluru and Hyderabad contribute

morethan13%ofgdp. Thecountry’scom-

puter-sciencegraduatesarelaudedworld-

wide:thebossesoftwoofAmerica’sbiggest

techfirms,SatyaNadellaofMicrosoftand

SundarPichaiof Google,werebornand

educatedinIndia.Itisalsohometothe

fast,cheapJiophonenetworkwhichhas

madeIndianstheworld’sbiggestconsum-

ersofmobiledata.

YetalthoughmanyIndiansworkwith

computers, very few are employed in

buildingthem.Allthecomponentsusedto

createJio’snetworkwereimported.Benga-

luruandHyderabadliveoffdullbusiness-

processoutsourcingandback-officeman-

agement.LastyearIndiaimported$55bnof

electronicgoods.It exportedjust$8bn.The

factthatIndia’smostcelebratedindustry

dependsentirelyonimportsinanerain

whichmanycountriesareincreasinglyca-

priciousaboutwhatgoodstheywillallow

tobeexportedmakessomeofficialsner-

vous.SoIndiaisattemptingtobuildits

ownchips.

It isstartingfromclosetozero.Theonly

factoryinIndiathatmakessemiconduc-

tors—theprocessorsattheheartofallelec-

tronicgadgets—isa government-runoutfit

inthecityofChandigarh.Itwasbuiltin

1983 inpartnershipwithanAmericanchip

companythatnolongerexists.Thefab,as

chip-makingfactoriesarecalled(itisshort

forfabricationplant),ismanagedbythe

DepartmentofSpace,andmakesspecial-

isedchipsformilitaryuse.TheCentrefor

Development of Advanced Computing

(cdac), anothergovernmentbody,hasde-

signedsomechipsofitsown,butgotfor-

eignerstomakethem.

In 2017 the Indian government ap-

proved$45moffundingforcdactodesign

anew collection of chips that would be

builton top of a set of open-source technol-

ogies called risc-v. Unlike the chip designs

of Intel or Arm, which are proprietary,

risc-vdesigns are available to anyone with

aninternet connection to download free of

charge, and to incorporate into their chip

designs without a licence (see Science and

Technology section). This means any re-

sulting chips will be cheaper for cdacto

produce, as they don’t have to pay royalties

to Western companies. Their production

willalso be harder for foreign governments

todisrupt. cdachas finished the design of

itsfirst risc-v chip, and will soon start

manufacturing it.

The government is also funding a com-

mercial chips project called Shakti, which

usesrisc-vtoo. Whereas cdacis building

chips for government use and so keeping

thefinal design secret, Shakti’s engineers

willpublish the final designs of their chips

sothat any other company can build upon

them. G.S. Madhusudan of iitMadras, who

leads the project, has started a company to

make and sell Indian processors using

Shakti’s designs. He says the chips made by

thenew company, called InCore, will cost

lessthan imported chips. The Shakti pro-

jecthas already produced a chip to demon-

strate its technology—the first commercial

chipdesigned in India—using factories in

Taiwan to do the physical manufacturing.

By lowering costs for Indian tech firms

through open-source chips and by helping

todevelop a technical ecosystem, Mr Ma-

dhusudan hopes to keep more of India’s

engineers at home, perhaps even starting

new technology companies. Computer

chips are finding their way into everything

from household appliances to running

shoes, and he believes India has a shot at

making these lower-end processors.

The risc-vprojects also aim to insulate

Indiafromgeopolitics.Thatrisc-vhasbe-

Thegovernmenttriestocreateindigenouschip-makers

India’sITindustry

FabinIndia

They’re better at using them than making them

do not make goods that can be digested.

Over the past five years the Indonesia

Ulema Council (mui), a government-fund-

ed body that issues spiritual guidance to

the devout and runs lppom, has given its

seal of approval to the makers of a fridge, a

frying pan, sanitary pads, cat food and

laundry detergent.

Yahya Staquf, a prominent Muslim cler-

ic, does not understand how such things

can be halal. Many share his consternation.

When Sharp, a Japanese electronics giant,

announced in 2018 that a fridge it was sell-

ing in Indonesia had received halal certifi-

cation, it was widely ridiculed. In fact, the

mockery in that case was misplaced: ac-

cording to Ms Widiahtuti, the process of

making the plastic parts of fridges can in-

volve products derived from pigs. Owing to

Sharp’s halal certification, Muslims who

purchase the appliance can now be confi-

dent that their food will not come into con-

tact with contaminated plastic.

When more and more companies like

Sharp started approaching mui, it issued

guidance stipulating that any product re-

lated to food preparation or prayer—no

matter whether it can be consumed—is eli-

gible for certification. Pianos and sex toys

do not fall under that rubric, Ms Widiahtuti

notes, so she rejected those applications.

In an effort to boost exports and pose as

pious, Indonesia’s lawmakers have ex-

panded the scope of certification yet fur-

ther, however. They have approved a law

requiring all consumer goods to be certi-

fied as halalfrom October 17th. Ms Widiah-

tuti suspects that, in practice, the law will

be applied only to certain products, but

that is only an assumption. “The scope is

very general. What is the limit?” she won-

ders. Ms Widiahtuti may have to decide

whether pianos and vibrators are godly

goods after all. 7