Indian Validation Center to help boost chip manufacturing capabilities, says Ashwini Vaishnaw
Information Technology (IT) Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on March 9 that the Indian Validation Center would help develop manufacturing capabilities in the semiconductor sector.
The Union of Railways, Communications, Electronics and Electronics. The IT Minister has commissioned Applied Materials’ ‘India Validation Centre’ in Bangalore. The center will enable end-to-end design, characterization and qualification of semiconductor equipment.
“This center will further help develop manufacturing capabilities in the sector and exemplify the trust that global companies have in India,” Vaishnaw said.
The India Validation Center is the successor to the India Center for Collaborative Applied Materials Engineering, which will enable the development of talent and capabilities for the semiconductor sector. It will also enable validation, process engineering, laboratory management, as well as collaboration with academia and suppliers.
Nasdaq-listed Applied Materials is a provider of materials engineering solutions used to produce advanced chips and displays.
300 mm (about 12 inches) silicon wafers can be processed at the Indian validation center, billed as the first by a private player in India.
“The envisioned semiconductor ecosystem is going to play an important role in making India a developed nation. The Indian Validation Center is a testament to the dedication and effectiveness of our approach to strengthening India’s resilience in chipmaking,” said Vaishnaw, who is on a day-long visit to Bangalore.
Vaishnaw said that almost every consumer technology product that runs on a chip today has applied materials engineering “printed on it.”
Prabu Raja, president of the semiconductor products group at Applied Materials, said the company would continue to expand its capabilities in India. “(We will) support our customers and work with supply chain partners to strengthen the local ecosystem and help the Indian semiconductor industry.”
In an exclusive interview with Moneycontrol in Bengaluru, the minister said India’s next semiconductor program will focus more on the chip design ecosystem and aim to support end-to-end production of at least 10 chipsets nationally, including design, manufacturing and packaging.
Watch the full interview here.
Earlier today, Vaishnaw launched an indigenously built 2.4Tbps router, calling it a “momentous achievement”.
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