Tech3 | Quantum Mission chief raises alarm on China chips; Batter wars heat up; and more

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In today’s newsletter:?

• Quantum Mission chief raises alarm on China chips
• Former Swiggy SVP pulls plug on offline venture
• Batter wars: Nandini vs iD Fresh

Quantum Mission chief raises alarm on China chips

For the last two decades, China has erected a firewall against the world's software companies. It is only poetic justice that other nations are now hitting back with a firewall against Chinese hardware.?

Driving the news: Ajai Chowdhry, the chairman of the National Quantum Mission, warns that Chinese electronics pose a security risk to India .

• He claims that 90% of electronics used in India contain Chinese chips that could potentially relay data back to China

Chowdhry questions India's continued reliance on Chinese electronics, which he argues also "feeds them with jobs."

In an interview with us, the technology veteran said that Indian policymakers have been aware for the past three decades that the country could have countered Chinese dominance in electronics with state subsidies, but chose not to take action.

Making up for lost time:?Although India has recently crossed $100 billion in domestic electronics manufacturing, Chowdhry is not resting easy. He thinks not enough local value addition is happening in the sector.?

• This sentiment echoes economists and industry leaders who say most of India's electronics manufacturing is importing Chinese components and assembling them here

• Chowdhry said that the remedy is to encourage local design of chips and electronics products with government subsidies?

According to him, Indian capability centres of foreign chip companies employ the country's engineers and pay wages to them, but funnel back a bulk of the economic value to their own countries as the intellectual property is registered there.?

Read the full interview

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