India well placed to lead semiconductor growth, says Intel executive

New Delhi: India is well positioned to lead the global semiconductor industry’s expansion, supported by its chip design talent and growing demand from agentic artificial intelligence, a senior Intel executive said on Thursday.

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Speaking at SEMICON India 2026, Srinivasan Iyengar, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Intel’s Central Engineering Group, said the country’s talent pool, academic innovation and deep-tech startups were strengthening its semiconductor capabilities.

“I think India is positioned extremely well to do that,” he said, referring to the country’s potential to lead the sector’s growth.

India accounts for a fifth of global design workforce

India accounts for 20 percent of the global chip design and very large-scale integration (VLSI) workforce, with more than 85,000 skilled professionals, Iyengar said.

He added that over 355 universities offer advanced programmes in semiconductor and VLSI design, while academic institutions have developed more than 250 chips.

These capabilities, he said, provide a strong foundation for India’s semiconductor ambitions as AI drives demand for chips.

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Intel keen to deepen collaboration

Highlighting Intel’s presence in India spanning more than four decades, Iyengar said the company’s key businesses have substantial operations in Bengaluru and other Indian centres.

These include client and edge computing, data centres, networking, artificial intelligence and purpose-built silicon.

Backing the Semicon India initiative, Iyengar expressed interest in expanding partnerships over the coming decade.

“Intel would love to partner and collaborate further on this to take this journey forward for the next 10 years,” he said.

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