The world’s largest chip equipment vendor is putting a 140-acre research park in India as the centerpiece of a $5B commitment that stretches over ten years.
Prabu Raja, who runs Applied Materials’ Semiconductor Products Group, outlined the plan on the eve of SEMICON India 2026 in New Delhi, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi opened a three-day gathering of some 600 companies from 52 countries. ASML, Lam Research, Tokyo Electron, Micron, Infineon and NXP are among the exhibitors.
The company also wants its India supply chain to grow tenfold in scale, drawing more overseas suppliers into the country. Headcount there has already quadrupled in a decade to more than 7,000, with Bengaluru anchoring design, validation and research work.
New Delhi’s policy backdrop is India Semiconductor Mission 2.0, which reaches past fabs into design, chemicals, materials, industrial gases and workforce training. A first phase approved 12 projects worth roughly $18B across silicon and compound semiconductor fabs, display lines and advanced packaging; three of them are in commercial production. Design incentives have cleared 24 chip design projects, and 105 startups and smaller firms have gained support for electronic design automation tools.
Applied Materials is not building a fab of its own here. The ten-year window leaves the total flexible, yet the intent is plain: toolmakers want engineering talent and supplier networks beside the customers adding capacity.
