Global memory and storage solutions major Micron is betting on India as a fast-growing market for the company. In a bid to expand in what it sees as a promising market for the company, Micron launched a massive Global Development Centre in Hyderabad, spread across 3.5 lakh square feet.
The Nasdaq-listed firm, which is present in 18 countries across the world, has had a small presence in India with about 70 employees in Bengaluru. It forayed into India in April 2019. However, with the new R&D centre located in Gachibowli area of Hyderabad, the chipmaker is looking to leverage the talent available in the country to bolster its presence here.
“India as a market is still relatively small for Micron. But it is one of the fastest growing markets for us. As part of setting up this R&D centre, we are also doubling our sales activity in the country. With India being one of the fastest growing smartphone markets, we see immense opportunity here going forward. And not just smartphones, there is a lot of scope in upcoming data centres, the automotive space as well, among others,” Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra said at the launch of the R&D Centre.
The R&D centre currently employs 700 people, which the company is looking to grow to over 2000 in 2-3 years. The team currently comprises engineers, researchers, developers and IT specialists.
It is also looking to attract talent from major institutions in Hyderabad and the rest of the country. Sanjay says that the availability of talent is the reason why it decided to set up a large presence in Hyderabad.
This R&D centre will play a key role in contributing to the development of technologies behind breakthroughs in a wide range of areas such as artificial intelligence and machine learning for Micron. In terms of product development, the team in Hyderabad will work on DRAM, 3D XPoint and NAND Flash.
“The skill set of Micron’s employees in Hyderabad includes information technology functions and engineering talent who can design and develop high-quality, cutting-edge memory and storage solutions,” the company said in a statement.
Located in the heart of Hyderabad’s IT corridor, the centre spans across 350,000 square feet, along with six purpose-built design and verification labs.
K.T. Rama Rao, Government of Telangana Minister for IT, Industries and Municipal Administration and Urban Development, Amitabh Kant, NITI Aayog CEO and Jayesh Ranjan, Principal secretary for IT, Telangana were also present at the opening.