World’s No. 2 chip fab toolmaker to develop India as R&D hub, supplier base

Applied Materials Inc., the world’s second-largest toolmaker for semiconductor fabrication units, is working with more than a dozen international and domestic suppliers to set up manufacturing in India, said Prabu Raja, president of the semiconductor products group at the California-headquartered company. In an exclusive conversation with Mint, the top executive, who is spearheading a $400 million investment into India announced in 2023, said the company’s plan to set up a research and development centre in the country was taking shape and will help in faster validation of quality of materials that go into chipmaking. “We’re working with 15 international and domestic suppliers on how they can manufacture in the country, because typically we want our suppliers to be close to us because the speed of R&D determines speed of product development, which is also why we’re working to open the validation centre because labs will be needed to validate the products and R&D," Raja said. Raja said that as an equipment supplier, the company was typically located close to upcoming fabs or rather ‘be part of’ the fabs, which is why its own set of suppliers that provide parts for the equipment it makes also be close by.