HCLTech has partnered with Japan’s Rapidus Corporation to establish two dedicated semiconductor engineering development centres in Bengaluru and Hubli, the Indian IT services firm said on Monday. The centres will provide a range of specialised semiconductor engineering services and are intended to support Rapidus’ effort to develop and manufacture advanced logic semiconductors in Japan.
What the centres will do
According to HCLTech’s announcement, the new centres will deliver a suite of engineering capabilities that Rapidus requires as it builds next‑generation chipmaking capacity. Services listed by the company include:
- mask design
- design infrastructure
- process design kit (PDK) development
- design‑technology co‑optimisation
- layout design
HCLTech said the partnership will also focus on building a pipeline of Indian engineering talent to meet Rapidus’ evolving requirements in Japan, signalling a skills‑development element alongside the engineering contract work.
“The collaboration will give it access to India’s semiconductor engineering talent and dedicated development capabilities to complement its operations in Japan,” said Atsuyoshi Koike, Representative Director and CEO of Rapidus.
HCLTech’s chief executive and managing director, C Vijayakumar, described the tie‑up as combining Japan’s semiconductor ambitions with HCLTech’s engineering expertise to accelerate chip adoption and reduce time‑to‑market.
Context and implications for India
Rapidus is pursuing development and manufacturing of advanced logic semiconductors as part of a broader strategy to rebuild high‑end chipmaking capabilities in Japan. The collaboration with an Indian engineering services company reflects a growing pattern of cross‑border sourcing for chip design and engineering work, where Indian firms supply skilled teams for design, verification and PDK support.
For Indian technology policy and industry, the partnership highlights two practical effects:
- job and skills demand: a formal focus on building a talent pipeline implies new hiring, training or collaboration initiatives targeted at semiconductor engineering roles.
- global engineering services role: India’s engineering workforce will continue to be positioned as a source of specialised chip design and pre‑manufacturing services for international fabs and integrators.
| centre | primary services |
|---|---|
| Bengaluru | Mask design, design infrastructure, PDK development, DTCO, layout design |
| Hubli | Mask design, design infrastructure, PDK development, DTCO, layout design |
The announcement does not specify timelines, headcount targets or commercial terms in the public text. It does, however, underline an emerging cooperation model in which Japanese chip ambitions are complemented by Indian engineering capability rather than confined to domestic engineering pools alone.
As Rapidus progresses with its manufacturing ambitions in Japan, Indian engineering centres such as these may play a continuing role in providing the design‑engineering backbone that precedes wafer fabrication. The partnership is also likely to be of interest to Indian policymakers and institutions involved in semiconductor skilling and industry promotion.
