Cyient to Build Custom Chips Focused on Power Efficiency, M2M Communication for Key Industrial and Defence Markets

Engineering and tech services firm Cyient said it will move into bespoke chip design for automotive, data-centre, medical equipment and aerospace & defence applications.

The Hyderabad-based firm will draw on the 800–900 intellectual-property rights (IPRs) it holds and back the effort with a $100 million investment for its newly formed unit, Cyient Semiconductors.

Managing director Krishna Bodanapu told reporters the company will prioritise chips optimised for power efficiency and machine-to-machine (M2M) communications, areas Cyient sees as high-value as semiconductor supply chains rebalance and customers seek domain-specific silicon.

He noted Cyient’s IPR stock (largely protocols for I/O, memory and communications) positions the company to build application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and ASSPs for its target sectors.

Leadership & Partner Ecosystem

Cyient last month completed a carve-out of its chip business into a wholly-owned subsidiary, Cyient Semiconductors, and named industry veteran Suman Narayan to lead the unit.

The new arm has already struck technology and go-to-market partnerships, including a licensing tie-up with MIPS to build solutions on the MIPS Atlas processor portfolio and a strategic channel arrangement with GlobalFoundries to resell foundry services.

Cyient will operate a fabless model, subcontracting wafer fabrication to global foundries, the company currently outsources manufacture of several million chips and says it has not seen material disruptions from geopolitical tensions or critical-minerals squeezes so far. Management pointed to a strong cash position that can fund much of the near-term investment.

Market Opportunity & Timing

Bodanapu argued the number of chips per device/environment is rising sharply, he cited exponentially growing chip counts in modern spaces, and said Cyient aims to capitalise quickly on demand for domain-specific silicon in areas such as power delivery, industrial robotics and safety-critical automotive systems.

The $100m commitment will be deployed over one to two years as the unit scales design, IP integration and customer programs.

Cyient’s move reflects a broader industry shift toward regionalising chip design and supply and the growing attractiveness of ASIC/ASSP playbooks for companies servicing industrial, enterprise and defence OEMs.

By combining large IPR holdings, partnerships with IP and foundry players, and a fabless go-to-market path, Cyient aims to be a turnkey source of domain-specific silicon, an approach that could shorten design cycles for customers and capture higher value beyond traditional engineering services.