Building India’s Workforce for the Next Trillion

From highways to fabs, India’s economic leap will be shaped by skilled engineers who move beyond theory to build, operate and power the next phase of growth.

I was asked to speak on building the workforce for the next trillion at a moment when the context could not be clearer. India stands at a series of major economic inflection points, where scale, speed and execution are converging in ways rarely seen before.

India’s grand economic leap

It took India sixty years to reach its first trillion dollars. The second trillion came in eight years, the third four years later and the fourth in 2025. Even at the time of the pandemic, India’s economy emerged as the we entered Pandemic as the world’s fastest growing economy and exited it as the world’s fastest-growing economy. And now, we are the world’s fourth-largest economy with a GDP of 4.3 trillion dollars, surpassing Japan’s 4.1 trillion dollars. Our target is to reach $ 5.5 trillion by 2028. Notably, although COVID took away two of those years, the fourth trillion arrived six years after the third. We entered 2020 as the fastest-growing economy and exited the pandemic in the same position. Today, our growth trajectory is nothing short of extraordinary.

The economy grew by two trillion dollars just between 2015 and 2025. Twenty-five crore Indians, or about 250 million, were lifted out of poverty. This is not theory, but actual change. People frequently feel disconnected when they hear these trillion-dollar figures and wonder what it truly means for them. It’s an easy answer. 250 million Indians now have the chance to dream bigger. Disposable income has reached pockets that never imagined it. In just ten years, fifty crore (approx. 500 million) bank accounts were opened. These transitions are almost unbelievable.

Many of us stayed awake late into the night watching Chandrayaan launch and land on the Moon. There is genuine pride in what India is achieving and a deep sense of hope. A major driver of this transformation is infrastructure, which is emerging across the country. Take Zero Point in Noida, for example. It marks the start of one of the country’s best expressways. It is where the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor will pass and where Jewar airport is coming up. Imagine when all of this becomes operational. Jewar airport is expected to receive its operating license and begin operations next month as the second airport for New Delhi. But what does this really mean?

Driving growth at the grassroots

Look at the companies that are already moving in. Addverb, a robotics company founded by four entrepreneurs in 2015, saw Asian Paints as one of its first customers, and Asian Paints also backed it as it scaled…. Today, Addverb employs around 600 people and operates at a scale exceeding 10 billion rupees. The company has been allotted large land parcels in the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Area to build a much larger manufacturing facility called Bot Valley.

A quick look at what Addverb does shows strategic robots and factory automation robots. This is not Fanuc, not ABB, not Kuka…. This is an Indian company supplying global markets. Alongside this, HCL Foxconn has announced a 35-billion-rupee project in the region. Dixon, one of India’s largest electronics manufacturing unicorns and now a 12-billion-dollar company, is also taking up a large land parcel and preparing to expand

When infrastructure comes, companies follow. When companies come, industry grows. And when industry grows, jobs are created. There is also TARQ, a potential 280-billion-rupee project that could fall within this belt. Today, what is visible is land and roads, but the vision behind it and what it will become will unfold over the coming years. If this path continues, the outcomes will be difficult to imagine today. Right now, we see four trillion dollars and highways. When industry fully flourishes on top of this foundation, there will be an explosion of growth. Four trillion will become five trillion, and when we talk about a ten-trillion-dollar India by 2035, that ten trillion is likely to be achieved in a phase where one trillion dollars is added every year for the last three years. That is how the growth curve is shaping up.

A vision of thirty trillion dollars by 2047 is not unrealistic. Even merely doubling to ten trillion by 2035 is very achievable. It took 70 years to reach 5 trillion, but that number could double in the next decade, as we are at a stage where growth is almost unstoppable.

Those living in these regions already see it, but this new India is everywhere. Even in places where only a limited number of buildings are visible today, the transformation is irreversible, and in five years, space itself will be hard to find. Whether it is Dholera, Sanand, Surat, or other regions, the fire of growth is visible across the country.

This is no longer just competition between countries. There is intense competition within India itself. The large states are competing to become the first trillion-dollar state by dedicating special teams to develop plans to achieve this objective by 2030. Maharashtra is expected to reach this mark first, with double-digit growth rates. 

Tamil Nadu follows closely and has even hired an external consultant, BCG, to define its roadmap. Uttar Pradesh has done the same, which explains the scale of activity around Jewar, the Yamuna Expressway and surrounding regions. Karnataka, traditionally a software-driven economy, has also stated its ambition to reach one trillion dollars by 2035.

We are in a situation where Indian states are becoming larger economies than many countries, growing at an extraordinary pace. This growth will not be driven by states alone but by sectors. Manufacturing, renewable energy, the digital economy, pharmaceuticals and infrastructure will shape this expansion. Among these, manufacturing is the largest contributor and within manufacturing, electronics plays a critical role.

The talent gap: What industries need

Electronics sits at the core of every major sector. Manufacturing, electric vehicles, renewable energy and digital infrastructure all depend on it. It is foundational, and for it to work, talent is critical. Today, demand spans semiconductors, displays, EMS and electric vehicles. 

The opportunities are immense, but the bottleneck is the workforce. Industry wants engineers who are ready to deploy, yet there is a real shortage. The gap in practical engineering expertise is clear. Companies are not looking for theory-heavy profiles. They want problem solvers who can build products, work hands-on with tools and test benches, take ownership, manage documentation and operate professionally. They want practitioners, not consultants.

The challenge, then, is how to build India’s electronics engineering talent. There is no easy answer. Institutes offer good pay to lure students, but more and more students are turning towards entrepreneurship as a source of employment. Mindsets are shifting, but it does not occur instantly. I have seen this personally. In 2014, my younger daughter, an All India CBSE class XII topper, completed her MBA and introduced me to Dev, who said he wanted to work in a startup rather than consulting. Today, he is a senior at FirstCry in Dubai. The acceptance and energy around startups have grown as opportunities have become visible.

I say this as someone who has spent a lifetime in jobs and who chairs the Semiconductor Manufacturing Skills Committee at the Electronics Sector Skill Council. I was once asked by Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar what the missing piece is in our semiconductor skill programs and what courses should prepare our children for semiconductors. The reality is that when semiconductor manufacturing is taught, it is often reduced to software or theory. But semiconductors are not software. Students need to understand plasma generation, wafer architecture, vacuum systems, safety and the control of highly sensitive environments. Instead, they are taught concepts like P doping, N doping and diodes and then sent to industry. Industry rightly asks what kind of engineers it has been given. What it needs are people who can run machines and deliver yield.

Many institutions are still not aligned with the industry; AICTE has industry-defined semiconductor manufacturing electives, yet few institutions implement them meaningfully. At IIT Gandhinagar, free workshops were conducted for faculty and institutions. Where these ideas were adopted, such as at NAMTECH, students visited industry as professionals, analysed real processes and gave feedback. Learning became two-way rather than a one-way transfer.

I do not agree with the idea of a separate semiconductor degree. 

Semiconductors are a multidisciplinary field by nature. Students need strong foundations in mechanical, electronics, chemical and materials engineering. The right approach is to build solid foundation degrees, layered with certifications aligned to job roles. Complete the basics, and you become a technician or engineer. Complete advanced certifications, and you become a specialist. With experience, you become an expert.

Industrial safety must also be central to this effort. From the Bhopal Gas Tragedy in 1983 to the fire at the Semiconductor Complex in Chandigarh in 1989, India has learnt its lesson the hard way which has caused us years of regression. Silane, a pyrophoric gas that ignites instantly upon contact with air, was the cause of the SCL  fire. It takes talent and deep skill to handle equipment & such processes safely. Each and every step of the semiconductor manufacturing process involves the use of hazardous chemicals, and this makes practical training very crucial.

Momentum, Policy and the Road Ahead

Electronics is firmly part of the current momentum, with investments returning at scale. The government announced electronics projects worth 75 billion on the 17th, which are expected to generate close to 600 billion. I have never seen anything like what I am witnessing today. The execution’s rigour is equally impressive. This is not just about funding. 

Once approvals are granted, companies are reviewed every month on commitments, delivery and delays. If a delay is blamed on a department, the file is immediately examined. If the clearance already exists, accountability shifts back to the company and its managers. This process is driven directly from the Prime Minister’s Office, and it has created an environment where outcomes matter.

My closing point is simple. Workforce readiness will define India’s electronics strategy as skill means the ability to perform, demonstrate and operate safely, not just to understand theory. Where institutions embrace this shift, impact will follow. Change may be gradual, but once it takes hold, the momentum will sustain itself.

The article is based on the talk at the EFY Expo in Gujarat 25, titled ‘India’s Defining Decade: Building the Workforce for the Next Trillion’, featuring the opening speech by Ashwini-K (Dr Ashwini) Aggarwal, Chair, Semiconductor Skills Committee, ESSCI. It has been transcribed and curated by Saba Aafreen, Technical Journalist at EFY.