Dr. Ajai Chowdhry is a veteran of the Indian IT industry and also one of the six founding members of HCL. A recipient of the Padma Bhushan, the third highest civilian award given by the Indian government, he is often called the Father of Indian Hardware. His dream is to transform India into a Product Nation through electronics and make it a country which is self reliant with a secure technological future.
To realize this vision, Dr. Chowdhry, along with fellow HCL founding member, Mr. Arjun Malhotra, founded the EPIC Foundation two years ago. EPIC (Electronics, Products, Innovation, Consortium), is a not-for-profit that aims to cultivate a comprehensive ecosystem covering design, manufacturing, and integration. In this short span of two years, EPIC has already launched the first ever 100% designed in India tablet and LED driver chip. The foundation also signed an MoU with Karnataka Digital Economy Mission (KDEM) and is presently in advanced discussions with several other academic institutions, with an aim to develop distinct “Designed in India” products.
In this exclusive interview with TheCSRUniverse, Dr. Ajai Chowdhry talks about pursuing his dream for India through EPIC Foundation. He shares the core objectives and mission of the Foundation, the work they are doing and most importantly, their vision for the future.
Scroll down to read this inspiring interview:
Q. Could you briefly take us through the journey of EPIC Foundation- what motivated you to start the Foundation, when did it come into being and what are its key mission and goals?
A. We started EPIC two years ago. We noticed that India was now a trading country in electronic products and all the known Indian brands had died. We were being taken over by Chinese imports or Chinese products being sold under white label of Indian brands. We were only in the low value addition market of contract manufacturing. So, we decided to set it up to be an enabler towards making India a Hardware Product Nation.
Q. The Foundation recently announced the launch of a 100% 'Designed in India' Tablet and an LED Driver Chip. Which institutions and organizations did you partner with to design these products?
A. To demonstrate that India can make world class products, we got a Tablet designed by VVDN which can be upgraded, repaired and battery can be replaced in the field. This is with the objective of a much longer life for the product.
While talking to manufacturers of LED bulbs, we discovered that the driver chip was being imported from a single source in China. So, we worked with their association, ELCOMA, and got a startup to design the chip. Sahasra semiconductors will get the wafers done in Taiwan and do the packaging in India. The requirement is as large as 80 Cr chips per year.
Q. What makes these products unique and important for the Indian context? What are the plans to manufacture them on a scale and make them available for target users?
A. As mentioned earlier, the tablet can be upgraded, repaired and battery can be replaced in the field. This will ensure a longer product life. We are working with many OEM partners to take the Tablet to market. ELCOMA will help Sahasra to take it to market.
Q. What is the primary objective of your partnership with Karnataka Digital Economy Mission (KDEM)?
A. Our KDEM relationship is to further our goal of making products in India in their Beyond Bangalore program.
Q. Speaking of the ‘Beyond Bengaluru’ initiative by KDEM, how will the Foundation support start-ups under this program?
A. The Beyond Bengaluru initiative is focused on nurturing start-ups in cities all over Karnataka. We intend to partner with academic institutions and their incubators to enable them to design products by setting up Design and Startup villages on the campus.
Q. Are there any upcoming collaborations with academic institutions to develop ‘Designed in India’ products?
A. We have already started working with IIT Delhi and we plan to sign up with a good number of institutions in Karnataka and other states.
Q. Global collaboration is a key focus for EPIC Foundation. Can you tell us more about your efforts to collaborate with ESDM regions?
A. We have initially started to work with Taiwan and will work with other countries soon.
Q. What are the highlights of the Preferential Market Access (PMA) Policy which is being promoted by the Foundation at Central and State levels?
A. The Central govt has a policy of Preferential market access. Also, many initiatives similar to this have been taken in Defence (IDEX), telecom etc.US developed its defence and space industry like this from DARPA.We need to challenge startups to make products needed by the govts and the help them scale by giving them business preferentially.
Q. What are the key factors that make India a promising destination for electronics design and manufacturing? What can policymakers and Indian companies do to ensure that we fully capitalize on this potential?
A. When China plus one got talked about 8-10 years ago, Vietnam seized the opportunity and became a contract manufacturer. Today, due to geopolitical reasons and distrust with China, India has a great opportunity to become a hardware product nation as it is a trusted source as compared to China. The govt needs to come out with a policy to incentivize this in a big way. Indian companies should also venture into being ODM’s rather than just contract manufacturers.
Q. Looking ahead, what is your long-term vision for the Foundation? Are there any specific goals that you have set for the Foundation for the near to medium future?
A. EPIC is a Section 8 company currently funded by two of us- Arjun Malhotra and me. We want to get other like-minded people and companies to support our effort. We will need more funders and CSR funds to make the country’s dream a reality.
Our dream is to make 500 products in the next 5-10 years and replace the Chinese imports. Today each product that we buy creates jobs in China. This is not a good situation to be in. We have convinced the govt to set up a Task Force to further our goal.
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