Amid India's ambition to build a semiconductor manufacturing ecosystem, particularly with the support of the US government, US-based chipmaking tool provider Applied Materials reiterated its commitment to accelerate the commercialization process in India.
According to the Economic Times and ElectronicsB2B, Suraj Rengarajan, managing director of Applied Materials India, said the company will partner with semiconductor suppliers and organizations to shorten the time to commercialization and establish a sustainable semiconductor ecosystem in India.
Applied Materials announced in June 2023 that it would invest US$400 million in four years to establish a new engineering center in India over the next four years to serve as a hub for engineers, local and international suppliers, and research and academic institutions to fast-track the development of semiconductor equipment subsystems and components. Rengarajan told the Economic Times that in the first five years of operation, the center could create at least 500 new advanced engineering jobs along with 2,500 jobs in the manufacturing ecosystem.
In December 2021, the Indian government announced a US$10 billion package to incentivize the manufacturing of semiconductors, including chips and displays, in India. Over the course of time, India has received support from the US government, US-based industrial organizations, and semiconductor firms, such as the Semiconductor Industry Association, Micron, and Applied Materials.
During the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the US in March 2023, US President Biden and Modi signed a MoU on Semiconductor Supply Chain and Innovation Partnership to coordinate semiconductor incentive programs of the two countries. The MoU was followed by Micron's US$8.25 billion OSAT facility project and Applied Materials' US$400 million engineering center plan. In August, Foxconn said it had tied up with Applied Materials in a US$250 million project to make semiconductor equipment in the southern state of Karnataka.
