Gurpreet Singh (entrepreneur)

Dr. Gurpreet Singh was an Indian entrepreneur, engineer and pioneer of The INDIAN semiconductor industry. He founded Continental Device India Ltd. (CDIL) in 1964 and played an important role in establishing semiconductor manufacturing in India.

Early life

Gurpreet Singh was born in India around 1933–34. He studied at The Doon School and St. Stephen’s College and later went to the United States, where he earned an MBA and a PhD in Electrical Engineering.

Business career

In 1964, at the age of 31, Singh established CDIL in collaboration with California-based Continental Device Corporation. The company began manufacturing silicon semiconductor devices in Faridabad, making it one of the pioneers of semiconductor manufacturing in India, Homi Bhabha had praised the company as well which gave it lots of acclaim. CDIL later became wholly Indian-owned and became the first Indian company to manufacture space-grade semiconductor devices for ISRO.

Singh served as Chairman and Managing Director of CDIL and was also active in Indian industry organisations. He served as president of the All India Management Association during 1986–87.

Later life and legacy

Dr. Singh's son, Inderdeep Singh, succeeded him in the family business and became President and Managing Director of CDIL. His grandson, Prithvideep Singh, represents the third generation of the family involved in the company.