US chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices said on Friday it will invest around $400 million in India over the next five years and will build its largest design center in the tech hub of Bangalore.
AMD’s announcement was made by its chief technology officer Mark Papermaster at an annual semiconductor conference that started on Friday in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state of Gujarat.
Other speakers at the flagship event include Foxconn chairman Young Liu and Anil Agarwal of Vedanta.
Earlier this month, Taiwan-based Foxconn, an Apple supplier, withdrew from a $19.5 billion semiconductor joint venture with Vedanta as the venture struggled to get a technology partner
Despite being a late entrant, the Modi government has been courting investments into India’s nascent chip sector to establish its credentials as a chipmaking hub.
AMD said it will open its new design centre campus in Bangalore by end of this year and create 3,000 engineering roles within five years.
“Our India teams will continue to play a pivotal role in delivering the high-performance and adaptive solutions that support AMD customers worldwide,” Papermaster said.
The new 500,000-square-foot (55,555 square yards) campus will increase AMD’s office footprint in India to 10 locations. It already has more than 6,500 employees in the country.
From personal computers to data centres, AMD chips are used in a wide range of devices. The Santa Clara, California-based firm is also working on an artificial intelligence chip that will take on market leader Nvidia Corp
Vedanta upbeat
Vedanta group chairman Anil Agarwal on Friday said the first phase of its semiconductor project will involve $5 billion investment of the overall $20-billion outlay, and the venture will be ready with made-in-India chip in two-and-a-half years.
Vedanta is talking to three companies to rope them in as technology partners for its mega plans entailing foundary, chip manufacturing and packaging and design.
“In 2.5 years, we will give you Vedanta made-in-India chips,” Agarwal told reporters on the sidelines of SemiconIndia 2023 event.
After parting ways with Foxconn on their semiconductor joint venture, Vedanta group has made it clear that it remains committed to building India’s first semiconductor and display fabs in Gujarat.
Foxconn views
The ecosystem for semiconductor chips in India is for the “very brave”, Foxconn chairman Young Liu said as he expressed optimism about the country’s semiconductor road map during the second edition of SemiconIndia in Gandhinagar. Foxconn is the world’s largest contract electronics maker.
Addressing SemiconIndia on Friday, Liu said “The ecosystem for chips in India is for the very brave. Every experience only positions companies stronger going forward.”
India in 2021 unveiled a $10 billion incentive programme for the chip sector, but the plan has floundered as no company has so far managed to get clearance for setting up a fabrication plant, the centerpiece to Modi’s ambitions.
