AMD to Invest $400 Million in India, Plans Design Centre in Bengaluru

AMD’s Chief Technology Officer, Mark Papermaster, revealed the company’s announcement during an annual semiconductor conference that commenced in Gujarat on Friday.

On Friday, US chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) disclosed its plan to invest approximately $400 million (around Rs. 3,290 crore) in India over the next five years. The company intends to construct its largest design center in Bengaluru, a prominent tech hub.

AMD’s Chief Technology Officer, Mark Papermaster, made the announcement during an annual semiconductor conference held in Gujarat, which is also the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Distinguished speakers at the event included Foxconn Chairman Young Liu and Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra.

Despite entering the industry relatively later, the Indian government has been actively encouraging investments in the country’s burgeoning chip sector, aiming to establish India as a reputable chipmaking hub.

AMD has announced its plans to inaugurate a new design center campus in Bengaluru by the end of this year. Additionally, the company aims to generate 3,000 new engineering positions within the span of five years.

Mark Papermaster stated, “Our India teams will maintain their critical role in providing high-performance and adaptive solutions that cater to AMD’s global customers.”

The forthcoming 500,000-square-foot (55,555 square yards) campus will expand AMD’s presence to 10 locations in India, where it already employs over 6,500 individuals.

AMD’s chips find application in a diverse range of devices, ranging from personal computers to data centers. The company, headquartered in Santa Clara, California, is also actively developing an artificial intelligence chip to compete with the market leader, Nvidia.

Unlike its major competitor Intel, AMD follows a different approach by outsourcing the production of its designed chips to third-party manufacturers, such as Taiwan’s TSMC.

TSMC and South Korea’s Samsung stand among the few elite chipmakers globally, having mastered cutting-edge chipmaking technology. This technology has become highly sought after by many nations as they seek to avoid supply chain disruptions, as experienced during the pandemic.

In 2021, India unveiled a $10 billion (approximately Rs. 82,259 crore) incentive program for the chip sector. However, the plan has faced challenges, as no company has yet obtained clearance to establish a fabrication plant, which is a crucial aspect of Prime Minister Modi’s ambitions in this field.

Notable investments in India’s chip sector include a multi-year $400 million plan by US chip equipment maker Applied Materials, announced in June, to establish an engineering center. Additionally, chipmaker Micron has invested $825 million (about Rs. 6,786 crore) in a semiconductor testing and packaging unit in Gujarat.

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