‘We could develop chips in India from scratch’

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: Setting up of a fab unit in India doesn’t excite Hector Ruiz, chairman and CEO of the $5.64-billion microprocessor maker AMD—now striving to leave a rough patch. It’s the capability of the 1,000-strong Indian engineering work force at AMD’s research and development centres in Bangalore and Hyderabad that lends a sparkle to his eyes. During his second visit to India, he inaugurated a new engineering facility in Bangalore, besides dedicating his time to help push the 50x15 Initiative, a commitment towards reaching affordable Internet access to 50% of the world’s population by 2015. FE’s Pragati Verma and Sudhir Chowdhary met him for an exclusive interview while he was in New Delhi to attend the World Economic Forum Summit. The excerpts:

How do you see India’s role and its importance in AMD’s global R&D operations?

We have a slightly different view on what we are doing in R&D than what other companies are doing. We view the Bangalore and Hyderabad R&D centres as an integral part of the R&D strategy for the company globally. We are not doing what other companies do – outsource low-end work to their centres here. Our India centres are right in the centre of our road maps and strategy. They are critical to us and the main reason for this is the world-class engineering force we have at the centres. We are trying to benefit from them by expanding our centres here.

Are there any specific areas you want these centres to focus on?

Our centres here are what we call them as centres of excellence. They are able to combine a lot of technologies that are different. Normally, people call such concepts and technology as system on a chip. Our engineers are good in this area and hence, a major focus area for us in India.

Is the ramp-up of the R&D operations here a prelude to opening of a full-fledged fab?

I don’t see any connection between R&D expansion and opening of a fab. Right now, all our expansions are related to getting more capability in R&D and our desires to do as much as we can from India because we have a strong core of experts available. Hence, there is a strong case to expand our R&D capabilities here.

Don’t you believe in R&D being close to a fab? Do you feel it’s not so important?