HCLTech opens Bengaluru, Hubballi chip design centres for Japan's Rapidus

HCLTech, the Indian IT and engineering services company, and Rapidus Corporation, a Japanese company building advanced logic chips, opened two development centres in Karnataka on Monday, October 26, 2026, one in Bengaluru and one in Hubballi (also spelt Hubli). The two companies described the move as a partnership for next-generation semiconductor technologies. Engineers at the centres will handle several stages of chip design and design support for Rapidus, and HCLTech will also help Rapidus build a pipeline of Indian engineers for its work in Japan.

India's semiconductor story is often told through factories, but much of the value in a chip is created before any silicon is processed. The work listed for these centres sits in that early stage. Layout design turns a circuit into the physical pattern of transistors and wires. Masks are the stencils used to print those patterns onto a silicon wafer, so mask design must be exact. A process design kit is the rulebook and library that a chip company gives designers so their designs match what its factory can actually make. Design technology co-optimisation means tuning the design and the manufacturing process together so that the final chip is smaller, faster or uses less power. These are specialised skills, and a chipmaker that is still building up its operations needs many engineers who have them.

For Indian readers, the significance is twofold. First, it is a sign that Indian IT services firms are moving deeper into semiconductor engineering, a field with higher skill demands than routine software work. The companies say the centres will draw on HCLTech's core engineering experience. Second, the talent part of the deal points to Indian engineers supporting a Japanese chipmaker's own operations. Rapidus says the collaboration complements its work in Japan, so the link between the two countries here runs through companies and engineers rather than only through governments.

The choice of Hubballi is also worth noting. Most technology jobs in Karnataka cluster in Bengaluru. Placing a centre in a second-tier city gives local engineering graduates a chance at specialised work closer to home, though the reports did not say how many people the centres will employ.

Short-term: The two centres begin providing design and engineering support to Rapidus. HCLTech gains a semiconductor client in Japan, although without a disclosed contract value its effect on the company's revenue cannot be judged.

Long-term: If the arrangement grows, it could build a base of Indian engineers trained in advanced chip design and manufacturing support, skills that India's own chip plans will also need. It may also encourage more foreign chip companies to place design work in Indian cities outside the main hubs.

Who is affected: Engineering graduates and chip designers in Karnataka, especially around Hubballi; HCLTech's engineering services business; Rapidus and its programme in Japan; and policymakers in both countries who are trying to grow their semiconductor industries.

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