Intel, Cray mull facility in India

After global telecom manufacturers, it is the turn of IT software and hardware vendors to start looking at India as a manufacturing and rese...

After global telecom manufacturers, it is the turn of IT software and hardware vendors to start looking at India as a manufacturing and research and development (R&D) base station.

Two US-based chip-makers, Cray Inc and Intel Corp, are actively considering setting up a manufacturing base in India, Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal said on Thursday.

Even enterprise software maker, Cadence Inc, wants to expand its existing operations in India, the minister said.

‘‘There are increasing opportunities for public-private partnership in chip-making, specailly with supercomputer maker Cray Inc, this is what we want,’’ Sibal said.

‘‘I met with the chief executive of Cray (James Rottsolk) while on a visit to New York earlier this month,’’ he said. ‘‘I have asked the firm to consider coming to India and he agreed: We would like this to be a public-private joint venture,’’ he added.

Sibal also met with Intel India officials on Thursday afternoon, to discuss the firm’s proposed manufacturing unit in India.

‘‘This is just a sign of the opportunity that exists in India, and the earliest responses we are getting from global manufacturers are encouraging. We would like there to be more activity, to ensure that high-tech advances increasingly happen from India,’’ the science and technology minister said.