Semiconductor sector thrives in India as more talent ‘chips’ in for global companies

Around 30 per cent of the new global capability centres (GCCs) set up in India during the December quarter of last year were in the semiconductor space, signaling a growing interest in leveraging the local talent pool in areas spanning front-end design, performance testing, and post-silicon validation, according to a Nasscom-Zinnov report.

Among the recent additions to the semiconductor sector is Signature IP, a company established in 2021 with a focus on advancing network-on-chip (NoC) technology.

EdgeCortix designs AI-specific processor architecture from the ground up, and M31 Technology Corporation is a silicon IP provider. M31, with a centre in Bengaluru, is involved in IP development, IC design, and electronic design automation fields, including memory compilers and standard cell library solutions.

Nasscom-Zinnov report stated that the global semiconductor talent pool is 2.3 million, with the US, China, and India collectively comprising 50 per cent of the global talent pool.

Together, Bengaluru and Hyderabad host around two-thirds of the semiconductor global capability centers (GCCs) in India, housing over two-thirds of the total 55 semiconductor GCCs. With more than 95 GCC units and a specialized workforce of 50,000, this emphasizes India’s dedication to the semiconductor industry.

Some key roles across the semiconductor value chain include ASIC design engineer, reliability test engineer, clean room technician, chip encapsulation specialist, PCB (printed circuit board) design engineer, RF test engineer, and thin film engineer.The Nasscom-Zinnov report said that the GCCs are transforming their India centres into transformation hubs, working on the designing and development of chips, with fabrication outsourced to specialised foundries. Micron’s India centre has lined up a 1 TB 232-Layer 3D TLC NAND Flash memory chip for diverse applications in business, consumer, and gaming. Micron has lined up a $2.7 billion investment for its semiconductor chip assembly and test facility in Sanand.The top chip design companies globally, including Intel, Texas Instruments, AMD, Nvidia, and Qualcomm, have design and R&D centres in India.

Recently, AMD inaugurated its largest global design centre in Bengaluru, planning to employ around 3,000 engineers in the coming years. The AMD Technostar campus is part of the company’s $400 million investment in India over the next five years. The campus will serve as a centre of excellence across high-performance CPUs for the data centre and PCs, data centre and gaming GPUs, and adaptive SoCs and FPGAs for embedded devices.

(With TOI inputs)