Chipmaker AMD on Friday said it will invest $400 million in India over the next five years to expand research, development, and engineering operations.
The strategic investment by the chipmaker includes a new design center in Bengaluru, which is expected to become operational before the end of 2023, the company said, adding that it will be AMD’s largest design center in the country.
The new 500,000-square-foot Bengaluru campus will increase AMD’s India footprint to 10 locations across cities such as Bengaluru, Delhi, Gurgaon, Hyderabad, and Mumbai.
AMD’s investment comes at a time when the Indian government is making efforts to create a semiconductor and fabrication ecosystem in the country to reduce dependency on countries such as China and take advantage of the shifting supply chain trends in the semiconductor segment due to escalating chip war between the US and China.
In June, the Indian government started re-inviting applications for building semiconductor facilities in the country after several initial deals or applications stalled.
However, some of the new applications have not progressed as expected with Foxconn dropping out of a joint venture with Vedanta and Netherlands-based STMicroelectronics balking at finalizing an agreement to participate.
AMD’s move to invest in a new design center could boost the government’s plans of creating a semiconductor ecosystem.
The planned investment is expected to add 3,000 jobs by the end of 2028, the chipmaker said. AMD, which started its India operations in 2001, currently employs over 6,500 people in the country.
In a separate announcement, wafer fabrication equipment supplier to the semiconductor industry, Lam Research, said it is partnering with the Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru to upskill engineers in semiconductor fabrication technology.
The program, scheduled to start in August 2023 with a cohort of 30 students, will focus on device integration, including physical design learning, process flow development, and virtual metrology.