US-based Lam Research signed an MoU with Karnataka's state government to invest INR100 billion (US$1.14 billion) in India's growing semiconductor manufacturing sector, as the country targets a market value of US$103 billion by 2030.
According to media reports, including PTI, Business Standard, and Business Today, Lam Research is set to invest over INR100 billion in India, a move hailed by Ashwini Vaishnaw, India's minister of Electronics and IT, on the social media platform X as a significant boost to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's semiconductor vision.
The 'Invest Karnataka' page on X also relayed the news, with Lam Research's senior VP Sesha Varadarajan announcing the signing of an MoU with the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board at the Invest Karnataka 2025 Global Investors Meet. This partnership outlines investment in specific projects over the coming years, emphasizing a commitment to innovation and growth in Karnataka.
Lam Research is expanding its global chip fabrication equipment supply chain to India. In 2024, the company announced a donation of INR2.41 billion in software licenses to train 2,800 students with the India Semiconductor Mission.
It's notable that Lam Research has been exploring destinations for its investments amid India's semiconductor ambition. Following the announcement of a wafer fab project by India-based Tata Electronics and Taiwan-based PSMC, Rangesh Raghavan, Lam Research India's corporate VP, told the Economic Times in November emphasizing the strategic placement of their engineering centers in the US, Austria, and India for customer proximity, saying if Tata builds a fab in Dholera, Lam Research plans to establish a local office there for direct support, rather than depending on its Bengaluru facility.
According to a report by the India Electronics and Semiconductor Association (IESA), India's semiconductor market is projected to expand from US$52 billion in 2024 to US$103.4 billion by 2030, driven by sectors such as mobile handsets, information technology, telecommunications, consumer electronics, automotive, aerospace, and defense, with mobile handsets, IT, and industrial applications dominating with nearly 70% of the industry's revenue share.
