New Delhi, Sept. 2 -- India is on track to become one of the world's top five semiconductor nations, said Kai Beckmann, chief executive of German chip resources and components firm Merck's electronics business. Driven by this projection, the company is stepping up its presence in India, including via a memorandum of understanding signed with Tata Electronics on Tuesday.

Beckmann, in an interview with Mint on the sidelines of the fourth edition of the Semicon India conference on Tuesday, said it is not necessary for India to emulate Taiwan in shaping its semiconductor ecosystem.

"Today,global trade and collaboration is not as free as what it used to be. In such a shifting world, there is no specification that ensures that a certain count...