Mr. Manjunath Jyothinagara

Manjunath Jyothinagara has spent three decades engineering India's shift from a technology consumer to a technology producer — building the infrastructure layer beneath the country's semiconductor ambitions.

A B.Tech in Chemical Engineering (NIT Trichy) and a Management Development Programme (IIM Ahmedabad) underpin his blend of process rigor and entrepreneurial instinct, sharpened as Director (South Asia) at JohnsonDiversey, a USD 5.5 billion multinational.

In 2009 he founded UHP Technologies, now India's leading provider of ultra-high purity gas and chemical delivery systems, with 275+ projects across India and eight countries, including a contract with Micron Semiconductor's Gujarat facility. In 2011 came KASTECH Semiconductor Equipment, India's only exporter of high-purity equipment from a SEMI-compliant cleanroom. In 2024, KASFAB Tools, India's first contract manufacturer for complex semiconductor equipment, launched its Doddaballapur facility, already securing a USD 2.3 million US order and committed INR 250 crore for expansion. Across KAS Group's three verticals - facilities engineering, high-purity equipment manufacturing, and tool fabrication, Manjunath is building the indispensable infrastructure layer behind India's chip ambitions.

Beyond industry, Manjunath partnered with IISc's Centre for Nano Science on a MeitY-supported CVD platform for graphene, and is advancing India's first Molecular Beam Epitaxy system for the Government's Quantum Mission.

A recognised industry voice, he has delivered keynotes at SEMICON India 2024 and IIM Amritsar's MSME conference, featured widely in national and international tech media, and was a Special Guest at Manufacturing Maestros.