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raja-manickamRaja Manickam ('82), Tata Electronics CEO (OSAT division), shares vision for manufacturing in India

#Swarajya (January 24, 2022)

India Can Make It Big In Semiconductor Manufacturing; What's Needed Is Intelligent, Sustained Engagement: Tata Electronics CEO

    For the past few months, Tata Electronics (TEPL) has been in the news related to its possible ambitions in entering the semiconductor space in India.

    Swarajya contributor Arun Mampazhy caught up with Sri Raja Manickam, CEO of Tata Electronics (OSAT division) and in this exclusive interview, he covers a wide range of topics starting with his journey, some of Tata Electronics' plans and his vision for manufacturing in India.

1) Hello Sri Raja Manickam. You founded Tessolve in 2004 which evolved into a multi-million dollar MNC within a decade. Now you have passed on the leadership of Tessolve and joined Tata electronics as CEO of its OSAT division. Please tell us more about key milestones in your journey.

I always wanted to come back to India and create a great company. A company that would be a legacy where people would have no fear, dare to innovate and can openly share their ideas. Those days, the mantra was lean and mean, which means extract as much work from people and be tough. People are equivalent to machines as an asset or liability. I wanted to change that and prove that we can be a caring company and be successful.

My entire career is in semiconductor and I was fortunate to have worked in all aspects including manufacturing, product line business management, new market in Telecom in the mid 90s, OSAT from ground zero, sales and marketing — pretty much the entire semiconductor chain. Also, I worked in multiple geographies. Having worked in Singapore, Malaysia, US and for a short stint in Japan in manufacturing, I felt that we could do this better and more efficiently in India. However, India was a closed economy, the bureaucracy was intimidating, and government policies were not enabling. We missed the boat. (Read More)