HCLTech and Rapidus Corporation opened two engineering centers in India on Oct. 26, giving the Japanese chipmaker added design capacity and a planned route to prepare Indian engineers for future work in Japan.
The HCLTech development centers are in Bengaluru and Hubli. The companies said teams there will provide mask and layout design, design infrastructure, process design kit development and design technology co-optimization. They described the sites as support for Rapidus’ semiconductor engineering work.
The companies also plan to prepare engineers in India for Rapidus’ future staffing needs in Japan. Their Oct. 26 announcements did not specify staffing targets or financial terms, and gave no hiring timetable.
Rapidus Representative Director and CEO Atsuyoshi Koike said he expects the partnership to add engineering resources in India as Rapidus expands in Japan. Koike said Rapidus expects to draw on India’s expanding pool of engineers with semiconductor expertise.
The centers follow Rapidus’ Oct. 5 announcement naming HCL Technologies Limited as a Design Solution Associate. Rapidus named 17 Design Solution Associates for a network it said would help customers prepare chip designs for its planned 2-nanometer foundry. HCL Technologies Limited was among the group.
Rapidus cited a shortage of advanced semiconductor talent as one reason for forming the associate network. The company has also said chip development depends on design and manufacturing partners working together. The India centers add engineering capacity to that broader effort, while the planned talent pipeline is intended to support future work in Japan.
Rapidus says its pilot manufacturing line in Chitose, Japan, began operating in April 2025. The announcements did not identify which projects at the India centers would support the foundry program. Rapidus is targeting mass production in 2027.
