Rapidus partners with Indian tech giant on chip development

Chipmaker Rapidus has announced a partnership with India’s HCL Technologies, or HCLTech, to accelerate the development of next-generation semiconductors.

According to the announcement Monday, the two companies have jointly established two development centers in India, which began fully operating the same day.

Through the new facilities, the major Indian information technology firm plans to provide Tokyo-based Rapidus with a range of technologies, including for the designing of photomasks and the development of process design kits, or PDKs, necessary for chip designing.

HCLTech will also foster chip designing experts to help Rapidus meet its future need for human resources.

Rapidus plans to release PDKs in fiscal 2026, with HCLTech participating in the development.

Also on Monday, IBM Japan announced that it has opened a business office in Chitose, Hokkaido, to support its semiconductor-related clients including Rapidus.

Using technology from IBM, Rapidus aims to start mass production of semiconductors with a circuit line width of 2 nanometers at its plant in Chitose in fiscal 2027.

The city also hosts footholds of many other semiconductor-related companies.