Homegrown semiconductor companies are rushing to tap talent globally to spearhead their nascent operations in this potential growth market, said industry experts.

The moves come as India Inc faces a severe dearth of C-suite talent in the semiconductor space due to the absence of any fab or a robust semiconductor ecosystem in the country, leaving these companies to rely exclusively on hiring expats for senior roles, the experts said.

For instance, Tata Electronics tapped Intel's Foundry Services president Randhir Thakur as its CEO and MD while Murugappa Group's CG Semi roped in Filipino semiconductor industry veteran Jerry Arucan Agnes as CEO. The extended list includes past hires such as Vedanta which hired David Reed as CEO of semiconductor business and YJ Chen as CEO of display business in 2023.

"The semiconductor manufacturing industry is at a very nascent stage in India so there is no option for companies but to hire talent from elsewhere," said an executive at a local semiconductor maker. "Indian companies that want to scale at a rapid pace need these highly skilled executives to set operations in motion because we currently don't have the skillset for this in India as yet."

Tata Electronics currently has 41 open positions on professional networking site LinkedIn. These include posts such as chief financial officer for its upcoming Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT) facility in Assam, and CFO for its upcoming semiconductor fab plant in Gujarat. The company is also scouting for a senior director for its semiconductor fab operations.

On its part, the government is looking to attract more companies by offering incentives. Tata Electronics, CG Semi and Kaynes SemiCon are among companies receiving sops under the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) for setting up facilities in the country. Tata Electronics is building India's first fab and an OSAT facility while the others are focusing on OSAT plants. Three of the four units are coming up in Gujarat.

Companies, depending on the size of operations and executive roles, are paying between $500,000 to $1 million annually for such executives—the lower range being for OSAT facilities and the higher for fab-related roles, the person cited above said. However, some experts termed it as a 'conservative estimate', saying several companies are paying expat hires, especially for very senior roles, far more.

"All Indian semicon companies are looking to hire top talent from global companies at top dollar to fast-track their operations in India," said Navnit Singh, chairman and regional managing director of India for executive search firm Korn Ferry. "The salaries for such leaders can even go beyond a $1 million sometimes depending on the role and the candidate's seniority."