Lam fast building Indian semicon pipeline to service global market: Executive

Semiconductor technology giant Lam Research is establishing a new pipeline of Indian suppliers of critical equipment and services for fulfilling global orders, Lam Research India managing director Rangesh Raghavan told ET.

The wafer fabrication equipment producer will also soon unveil a new systems engineering lab in Bengaluru, he said.

As a part of the company's broad plan to diversify supply chains amid the threat of global disruptions, Lam Research India is leveraging existing capabilities within the country's aerospace, automotive, space and medical equipment sectors for developing semiconductor manufacturing equipment, Raghavan said.


These industries share 80–90% of the skills required for semiconductor manufacturing, Raghavan said.

The company is working with these domestic suppliers to bridge the remaining technical gaps through training and qualification, he said. "We have a large team of people in India whose sole job is to identify, train and qualify domestic suppliers. We're talking about developing a totally new set of suppliers from India, to ensure diversification and resiliency."

According to Raghavan, these industries have developed capabilities relevant to the semiconductor industry over the last 25-30 years. While the semiconductor industry is differentiated by the speed of tech development and deployment, these other industries are equally focused on quality, reliability, cost and efficiency, he said.

For Lam Research, India currently anchors key research and development functions across core operational elements such as supply chain, logistics and order fulfilment, according to Raghavan. Since the Covid pandemic, the company has moved from having a global capability centre-like focus of supporting software engineering and business process work to an R&D focus for India.

Systems engineering

"The first R&D lab was established in 2022 to take full ownership of designs, build prototypes and test them at the subsystems and component levels. We are soon going to inaugurate our systems engineering lab, which will integrate our full systems in India, to support an entire line of products," Raghavan said.

Raghavan declined to disclose the exact portfolio of products, but said it will include major machines measuring 50-100 square feet with multiple systems such as gas, power delivery, controls, robotics, temperature control, and wafer handling.

"All of these things come together and perform a process for the customer, in that tool. The first tools are already here. We will be designing the elements of that tool and integrate those elements in India," he said.

On the second phase of the India Semiconductor Mission initiative, currently being drawn up by the government, Rangesh said, "Once it is announced, we'll see how it applies to what we're doing, and we'll leverage it where it makes sense."

The Semiverse suite of software tools which allow engineers to simulate, model and optimise chip manufacturing processes (like etch and deposition) before physical production, and establish digital twins, has now been donated to 80 Indian universities at a cost of $30 million per year, Raghavan said.