HCLTech Opens ₹185-Crore Semiconductor Testing and Engineering Hub in Bengaluru

HCLTech has opened a ₹185-crore Advanced Semiconductor Lab in Bengaluru, expanding its ability to carry semiconductor products from post-silicon engineering through testing, qualification and failure analysis within a single facility.

The new laboratory covers 40,000 square feet, of which around 25,000 square feet consists of Class 10K and Class 1K cleanrooms. HCLTech says the facility will support both Indian and international customers and form an important part of its global semiconductor engineering strategy.

The investment is significant because semiconductor development does not end when a chip design is completed. Once silicon is fabricated, engineers must verify whether the physical chip performs as intended, test it across different operating conditions, identify manufacturing or design defects and qualify it before volume production.

HCLTech’s Bengaluru facility has been built around this post-silicon stage of the semiconductor cycle.

It will provide electrical validation, automated testing, product qualification and failure analysis, while also supporting research and development, pre-production validation and production qualification. This gives customers access to several stages of chip engineering without moving work between multiple independent laboratories.

The facility has been equipped with systems from major semiconductor test and instrumentation companies including Teradyne, Advantest, Keysight, Tektronix and Thermo Fisher Scientific.

Inside the cleanroom, HCLTech has installed automated test equipment, semiconductor probing systems and qualification chambers. The failure-analysis section includes advanced optical and electron microscopy as well as Focused Ion Beam, or FIB, systems, which allow engineers to examine extremely small structures within semiconductor devices and investigate the causes of failures.

Failure analysis is a particularly important part of semiconductor development. A chip that fails during validation or reliability testing must often be examined at microscopic scale to determine whether the problem originated in the design, fabrication process, packaging, materials or operating environment.

By bringing such capabilities in-house, HCLTech expects to shorten engineering cycles and reduce the complexity involved in moving semiconductor products from design towards commercial production.

The laboratory is part of HCLTech’s Spec2Parts business model, under which the company seeks to connect semiconductor design specifications with the engineering, validation and qualification required to deliver finished semiconductor parts.

HCLTech has spent about two decades building semiconductor engineering expertise. The Bengaluru investment broadens that position beyond design and engineering services by adding physical testing and analysis infrastructure.

According to the company, the laboratory creates a unified environment covering the stages between completed silicon and production-ready components, allowing engineering teams to work on validation, testing, qualification and problem resolution within the same platform.

The facility is also being prepared for a range of international certifications. HCLTech says it is working towards ISO 17025, covering testing and calibration laboratory competence; ISO 9001 for quality management; AS9100 for aerospace applications; and ISO 13485, which applies to medical-device quality management systems.

These certifications would allow the Bengaluru laboratory to serve semiconductor programmes operating under demanding reliability and regulatory requirements, including chips intended for industrial, aerospace and medical applications.

Hari Sadarahalli, Corporate Vice President and Global Head of Engineering and R&D Services at HCLTech, described the laboratory as a major expansion of the company’s high-end engineering capabilities and said it would contribute to India’s ambition of becoming a global centre for advanced technology.

The facility also adds another layer to India’s developing semiconductor ecosystem.

India’s semiconductor push has so far attracted considerable attention around wafer fabrication, assembly, packaging and chip design. Testing, validation and failure analysis are less visible but equally important parts of the semiconductor value chain. Chips intended for demanding applications must pass extensive electrical, thermal, reliability and functional testing before entering production.

Domestic access to these capabilities can reduce dependence on overseas laboratories during development and help chip designers and manufacturers carry out engineering iterations more quickly.

For HCLTech, the ₹185-crore Bengaluru investment therefore represents more than the opening of another engineering centre. It places physical semiconductor testing infrastructure alongside the company’s existing chip-design and engineering capabilities, allowing it to participate across a larger section of the product-development cycle.

As semiconductor manufacturing and design activity expands in India, laboratories capable of validating and qualifying actual silicon will become increasingly important. HCLTech’s new Bengaluru facility is intended to occupy precisely that part of the ecosystem — bridging the gap between a semiconductor design and a chip ready for commercial production.