Applied Materials to invest $400 million in Indian research center

Business news | June 22, 2023

By Peter Clarke

Applied Materials Inc. has said it intends to invest US$400 million to build a collaborative engineering center for semiconductor manufacturing equipment in Bangalore, India.

Applied is a leading supplier of semiconductor manufacturing equipment and software.

The company said the center will bring Applied engineers together with global and domestic companies in the semiconductor ecosystem and research and academic institutions. The center is also expected to be a source of training people so they could work in semiconductor industry.

Applied’s announcement coincides with Micron’s confirmation that it will build a chip assembly and test facility in Gujurat (see India will pay for 70 percent of Micron’s $2.75 billion packaging plant).

Applied said that in its first five years of operation, its collaborative center is expected to support more than $2 billion of investments in India and create at least 500 direct engineering jobs along with potentially another 2,500 indirect jobs in manufacturing.

“We envision Applied’s strong base of engineering talent collaborating more deeply with domestic and global companies operating in India to strengthen the foundational equipment supply chain serving the global semiconductor manufacturing industry,” said Prabu Raja, President of the Semiconductor Products Group at Applied Materials, in a statement.

The collaborative engineering center is expected to be located near Applied’s existing campus in Bangalore, one of six sites in India. At the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, Applied has established a materials development center focused on developing next-generation chemistry and materials for the semiconductor industry.