Targeting India’s data centres and industrial sectors, Cyient Semiconductors invests ₹9 billion to develop power-efficient chips,leveraging local talent for global growth.
Cyient Semiconductors, a newly formed subsidiary of Cyient Limited, has announced a ₹9 billion ($100 million) investment to develop power-efficient custom chips for India’s expanding data centre and industrial automation sectors.
According to a Hindu Business Line report, the move is part of Cyient’s strategy to tap into India’s semiconductor market, which is expected to grow in the coming years.
The company plans to initially focus on industrial applications such as smart grids, electric mobility, and smart meters, which are tailored for Indian conditions. It will concentrate on producing mixed-signal analogue chips, vital for improving power conversion efficiency in data centres. There, current systems lose 5-15% of power.
Suman Narayan, CEO of Cyient Semiconductors, highlighted that the use of more efficient chips could help lower operational costs for data centres. He also noted that India’s semiconductor market could reach ₹25 trillion ($300 billion) by 2032, a significant portion of the projected $2 trillion global market.
India’s rich talent pool in semiconductor design is a key advantage for Cyient, with Narayan pointing out that 20 per cent of the world’s semiconductor designers are based in India.
The company is collaborating with several top Indian universities, including IITs and IIITs, to leverage this talent.
Krishna Bodanapu, Cyient’s Executive Vice Chairman and Managing Director, stressed the importance of India building its own semiconductor industry. He warned that the country’s electronics import could soon surpass its oil imports, which poses significant risks to critical systems, especially in manufacturing.
Narayan explained that, unlike companies like NVIDIA focusing on cutting-edge chips, Cyient will focus on chips with higher nanometre ranges, which are more suited for power conversion in the industrial sector.
The company aims to expand into automotive and medical sectors in the future, but for now, its primary focus is on developing custom chips for power applications. Cyient is also exploring external funding opportunities to support its growth.
With over 40 custom silicon designs and 5 million chips produced annually, Cyient has an established track record in semiconductor design.
