US chipmaker Qualcomm is moving production of its automotive modules to India as part of a broader plan to strengthen local manufacturing and support its key ecosystem partners, a senior executive said..Nakul Duggal, group general manager for automotive, industrial and embedded IoT at Qualcomm Technologies, was quoted as saying by news agency PTI that the company is working closely with its Tier 1 partners to help them relocate manufacturing to India. “We build a lot of modules. Those modules are typically built in Taiwan, or China, or Korea, but we are now actively working in India to localise this. We, of course, partner with our Tier 1 ecosystem, such that as they move their manufacturing to India, we have been supporting them,” Duggal said.Qualcomm, a fabless company that designs chips but outsources their production, employs around 22,000 people in India, roughly 60% of its global workforce. Duggal noted that the company has a local team dedicated to working with Indian carmakers.The chipmaker is focusing heavily on the automotive market, especially for electric vehicles, and already works with major car manufacturers such as Tata Motors, Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai. Its Snapdragon Elite platform supports telematics, infotainment and driver assistance technologies, including Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS).According to Duggal, about a dozen vehicles are expected to feature Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Cockpit Elite and Snapdragon Ride Elite systems-on-chip by 2026. These were announced in October 2024 and delivered to customers in early 2025.He emphasised that India’s strong base of both domestic and global automakers offers scope for products designed specifically for the local market. “There is a huge need for building products that cater to the needs of the Indian region. Rather than bringing in a product that is built for a global customer, build a product for a local customer. That necessitates for an OEM the need to have engineering capability, creative capability, to actually think about the needs of the local region, and we are starting to see that happen,” Duggal said, adding that such a strategy has already given China a competitive edge.Automotive chips currently contribute about $3.6–3.8 billion, or 10% of Qualcomm’s global revenue. The company aims to double that figure to $8 billion by 2029.
