Intel to expand R&D center in India

Intel is expanding its facilities in Bangalore to include a new campus that will cost $41 million, the company said Monday.

The campus will house employees involved in hardware and software design, validation and system engineering for the next generation of Intel's microprocessors, semiconductors and memory technologies. The 43-acre facility is expected to initially house more than 1,000 engineers.

"India continues to play an important role in helping Intel to deliver architectural innovation to our customers by extending our silicon leadership," said KetanSampat, president of Intel Technology India in Bangalore.

The announcement by Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel is in line with its strategy to significantly enhance its investment and head count in research and development in India. During his visit to India in August last year, Intel CEO Craig Barrett announced that the company planned a major expansion of its research and development efforts in India, and would increase the number of employees it has in the country from 1,000 to about 3,000 over the next few years. The investment would cost about $100 million, and most of the new hires would be for Intel's Bangalore development center, Barrett said then.

Intel's development center in Bangalore is already doing work on Xeon processors, and last month the company announced that the center will also be involved in developing the next generation of Intel's mobile Centrino platform. The center develops embedded software such as device drivers and chipsets for the Centrino.

A number of multinational semiconductor companies including Texas Instruments, in Dallas have announced plans to increase the size and role of their centers in India.