American semiconductor giant AMD is deepening its collaboration with the Indian government to support the country’s ambitions in indigenous GPU development, local IP creation, and advanced semiconductor research. The company also reaffirmed that its $400 million investment in India is progressing as planned, with strong momentum across R&D and hiring initiatives.
Jaya Jagadish, Country Head and Senior Vice President of Silicon Design Engineering at AMD, emphasized the need to cultivate India’s engineering talent and support the growth of local startups to capitalize on the emerging semiconductor and AI opportunities. “We’re definitely open to meaningful partnerships with the government. Fostering engineering talent and building the right ecosystem is essential,” she said in an exclusive conversation with Moneycontrol.
In Talks with Government on Indigenous GPUs
AMD is currently engaged in discussions with the Indian government around co-developing indigenous GPUs, aligning with India’s broader goal of achieving self-reliance in high-performance computing hardware. While Jagadish noted that it’s “too early to share specifics,” she confirmed that conversations are underway, and AMD is exploring ways to contribute meaningfully to the initiative.
India is actively working on its first indigenous GPU, with a prototype expected by the end of 2025. The effort is being spearheaded by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), with the aim of achieving commercial readiness by 2030.
In line with these ambitions, India’s IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw recently announced ongoing discussions with multinational players such as AMD and NVIDIA for potential collaboration on GPU co-development.
Open to India’s Design-Linked Incentive Scheme
AMD has also expressed willingness to participate in the Indian government’s Design-Linked Incentive (DLI) scheme, a critical pillar of the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM), once it opens to multinational corporations. Jagadish noted that participation will depend on the strategic value and business viability of the program. “It needs to make sense from a partnership and business standpoint. If it does, we are certainly open to it,” she said.
The previous iteration of the DLI scheme—launched in 2021—offered limited incentives, with less than $12 million distributed over five years. Of the 60 applications received, only about 20 companies met eligibility criteria, and very few received fabrication orders. A revamped version of the scheme with enhanced benefits is currently under development by MeitY.
Supporting India’s AI Mission
AMD is also actively contributing to India’s Rs 10,000-crore AI Mission, which has boosted the country’s national compute capacity to more than 34,000 GPUs. AMD GPUs are being deployed by several shortlisted AI cloud service providers, alongside those from competitors like Nvidia, Intel, and AWS.
“India is uniquely positioned with a massive developer base and a growing appetite for AI,” said Jagadish. “Our open and scalable AI platforms are aligned with India’s vision of inclusive and impactful technology adoption. We’re working to ensure our software and hardware offerings are customisable, best-in-class, and ready to support this growth.”
$400 Million Investment Progressing Ahead of Schedule
AMD’s India operations continue to expand rapidly. The company’s $400 million investment plan—announced in 2023—is well on track, with significant contributions already underway from local teams working on advanced 2nm and 3nm chip technologies.
The company recently inaugurated Phase 2 of its India campus, which now accommodates over 3,000 engineers, making it the largest R&D centre for AMD globally. Jagadish added that the company’s hiring target of 3,000+ engineers by 2028 is ahead of schedule, underscoring India’s strategic importance in AMD’s global roadmap.
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