Dutch lithography giant establishes local presence, tying workforce expansion to India’s long-term semiconductor ambitions.
Dutch semiconductor equipment leader ASML has officially commenced operations in India, initially hiring 20 to 30 young engineering graduates as it establishes a local support footprint. Speaking at SEMICON India 2026, ASML Executive Vice President and Head of Customer Support Lin Kiat Yap confirmed that the firm’s growth in the country will directly track the scaling speed of Tata Electronics and India’s broader chipmaking ecosystem.
ASML holds a near-monopoly in advanced lithography systems, which are essential for printing complex circuit patterns onto silicon wafers. Tata Electronics represents ASML’s primary domestic customer as it constructs India’s first 300-millimetre wafer fabrication facility in Dholera, Gujarat, which is designed to produce 50,000 wafers per month when commercial operations begin in 2028.
Allan Wayne, ASML’s Chief Strategic Sourcing and Procurement Officer, praised the policy framework established under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration, highlighting the government’s Semicon 2.0 scheme and its $13.5 billion (1.27 lakh crore rupee) incentive pool. Wayne noted that meeting national targets—such as supplying 15 to 25 per cent of local chip demand by 2032 and up to 50 per cent by 2035—will require roughly a dozen large-scale fabrication plants.
While ASML currently has no concrete plans to manufacture equipment locally, Wayne indicated that domestic equipment assembly could be evaluated in the future if local demand scales sufficiently. For now, ASML remains focused on helping Tata Electronics achieve timely execution, high yield rates, and operational quality at the Dholera site, where Tata is currently establishing 363 vendor parks to house an estimated 450 supply chain partners.
