Next month, India will celebrate 60 years of freedom and democracy. In that time, it has made significant progress in science and technology. While it has gained a reputation as a software outsource destination, its space program has reached new heights. The country's space scientists and engineers are readying a spacecraft to carry India's first independent manned mission to the moon in 2008. And, its economy has swelled to a trillion dollars.

The country's vision of establishing institutions of higher learning is paying off. Thus, creating a large pool of engineers, physicists, chemists and other technical personnel to give its software industry and design services sector a big boost. Consequently, in the last 10 years or so, more and more semiconductor suppliers and fabless design houses have been opening design centers in India. According to a recent study conducted by market research firm iSuppli, India's semiconductor design industry is expected to nearly triple by 2010, as overseas and domestic suppliers rush to establish or expand their chip development efforts in the country. The El Segundo, Calif.-based market research firm forecasts that the semiconductor design industry in India will rise from $624 million in 2005 to more than $1.7 billion by 2010.

A recent survey by iSuppli indicated that approximately 125 companies are now conducting semiconductor design in India. Obviously, EDA tool suppliers must follow the path of IC designers. With mushrooming fabless design houses, major suppliers, including Cadence Design Systems, Synopsys, Mentor, Agilent EEsof, and others have expanded their presence in India. This has driven the government and the domestic players to move into manufacturing.

Another trend catching momentum is the establishment of research centers that can serve at the corporate level. From that standpoint, major semiconductor players and EDA tools suppliers have increased investments in their respective India operations to help their global R&D efforts. The latest to join this trend is antenna designer and manufacturer Laird Technologies. To further strengthen its proximity and support capabilities to key customers in the south Asian market, Laird has opened a manufacturing facility in Chennai. In addition, the company has also established a corporate research laboratory in Bangalore. The focus of this new laboratory will be in the development of novel materials for use in electronics components and systems. For that, Laird will recruit a broad range of technical specialists including physicists, chemists and material scientists. It is intended to serve as a technical hub for the corporation. “Our new corporate research laboratory will focus on longer-term research in materials and products that will enable step-change improvements in our current and future products, as well as develop products that are multifunctional in nature,” said Rick Rothenberger, technology vice president at Laird Technologies.

Progress on several technology fronts has helped the country's middle class to grow significantly. Per capita income has also increased over the years. And, the government's liberal policies, market reforms and telecom deregulations are pushing this once underdeveloped nation to becoming a developed nation.

To add some perspective, the cell phone subscribers in India are expected to triple during the next few years, making it one of the world's fastest growing markets. Last year, the number of subscribers nearly doubled to 149.5 million, up from 85 million in 2005, according to iSuppli Corp. About 5.5 million Indians are signing up each month, which should drive subscriber numbers to 484 million by 2011. Overall, the consumer electronics market, one of the largest segments in the electronics industry in India, grew to a market size of $3.89 billion in 2006 with predictions for continued growth for several more years. Early this year, the government announced incentives for manufacturing of solar cells and panels in the country to meet 10% of the country's power needs through renewable energy by 2012.

All this progress is good for the middle and the educated class. But what about those below the poverty line who could not benefit from such progress? And there are about 350 million of them. It is time that sincere efforts are made by those who have benefited from this progress to give back to those who have not been so lucky.