Advanced packaging can help India enter chip supply chains: Applied Materials executive

• ET Online

• Published On Feb 27, 2026 at 11:54 AM IST

Raja highlighted that Applied Materials has previously built advanced packaging capabilities in Singapore through its investment arm and sees similar potential in India.

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Advanced packaging of chips provides India a unique opportunity to enter the global semiconductor value chain at a time when the industry is witnessing major shifts, a senior executive at Applied Materials said.While India’s wide talent base will help the country reach its semiconductor goals, speed will be of the essence, said Prabhu Raja, president of the Semiconductor Products Group at the US-based supplier of equipment, services and software for the semiconductor industry.”Most packaging in India today is assembly/test; truly advanced packaging is different and aligned with current inflections. If I had to pick a place to cut in, advanced packaging would be high on the list,” Raja told ET. Such a move would also align with Applied Materials’ vision for India, provided the country moves fast on both innovation and execution, he said.”We invest through Applied Ventures, building ecosystems around key inflections. We started advanced packaging in Singapore back in 2012, and today it’s a global leadership hub. We want to build similar future-oriented capabilities in India, where the world will need India,” Raja said.The country should also bet on the latest shifts in semiconductor technology, including 3D chips, and heterogeneous integration of chiplets, instead of older manufacturing techniques, Raja said. With lithography, the traditional method of shrinking the components on chips, reaching its limits, the industry is now shifting toward materials engineering, he added.”Everything is going 3D. Traditional scaling was lithography and etch. 3D reduces litho intensity and increases the importance of materials engineering,” he said. While India has outlined ambitions to establish cutting edge semiconductor fabrication facilities in less than a decade, Raja warned “this industry takes time”.