MediaTek to triple India workforce to 1,500 in 3 years

Mobile chipset maker MediaTek plans to triple its India workforce to 1,500 people over the next three years, a move aimed at cashing in on the talent pool in one of the world's fastest growing smartphone markets.
The company has already invested USD 450 million in the Indian market to strengthen its R&D capabilities and on driving innovation through investment in tech companies.
"MediaTek employs 500 people in India now, and is expected to triple the number to 1,500 in three years," it said in a statement.
MediaTek had set up its India office in Noida in 2004. In the same year, it invested USD 350 million to expand its business and establish an R&D facility in Bengaluru.

To date, the Taiwanese firm has provided USD 100 million in funding to companies working in areas like semiconductors, Internet of Things (IoT), fintech, e-commerce and network applications, including companies like Paytm and MoMagic.
MediaTek has also announced a smartphone design-training programme today aimed at fostering and developing talent for Indian handset industry.

The programme, created in collaboration with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Indian Cellular Association (ICA) and the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), Taiwan.
Aimed at propelling the 'Make in India' initiative, MediaTek will share its smartphone design expertise and leverage its well-established global ecosystem to support the programme, the statement said.

The two-and-a-half-month programme is scheduled to start later this year and will provide hands-on training to managers and senior engineers from India on efficient planning and execution of handset design projects.
About 50 professionals with at least five years of experience in research and development in electronics will be selected from key handset makers across the country to be a part of the training programme.
MediaTek will train engineers in R&D competence and design project management.
The company will also coordinate with key component companies to be part of the training module with hands-on instruction.
MediaTek appreciates the effort the Indian Government is making towards building a global manufacturing base for the electronics sector in the country, MediaTek Chairman and CEO Ming-Kai Tsai said.

"We have observed that hardware design in the handset industry, especially integration of key components, is lacking in India so the idea of this program is to pick professionals working in the hardware domain and further train them in handset specific design to narrow the current gap in the local industry," Aruna Sundararajan, Secretary of MeitY was quoted as saying.
This programme is also expected to substantially accelerate the government's 'Make in India' and 'Digital India' initiatives, she added.