Tokyo-headquartered semiconductor major Renesas Electronics Corporation has expanded its presence in India’s chips ecosystem through new partnerships, infrastructure and strategic investment in local talent. The Japanese semiconductor giant announced two Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India, aimed at fostering innovation through startups and academic institutions.

The MoUs, signed with the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) under the MeitY’s Chips to Startup (C2S) programme, focus on supporting local startups and promoting industry-academia collaboration in VLSI and embedded semiconductor systems.

The announcement coincided with the inauguration of Renesas’ newly expanded offices in Bengaluru and Noida. These facilities will serve as key innovation and R&D hubs, as the company ramps up operations across India.

Under the first MoU, Renesas will support Indian startups by providing product engineering resources, including Renesas development boards and Altium Designer – industry-leading PCB design software. The second MoU focuses on academic collaboration, offering development tools, educational training and cloud access to Altium 365 to enhance experiential learning for students and foster next-generation engineering talent.

The C2S programme involves over 250 academic institutions and around 15 startups, creating a broad base for indigenous semiconductor innovation.

Malini Narayanamoorthi, India Country Manager and VP, MID Engineering, Analog & Connectivity Group, Renesas, said, "The inauguration of our expanded offices marks a significant milestone for Renesas in India. It reflects our unwavering commitment to innovation, excellence and the nurturing of local talent. By building products in India, for India and the world, we continue to drive growth and deliver meaningful impact across the Indian market. We are proud to sign two MoUs under the MeitY C2S programme, focused on advancing research, fostering innovation, and nurturing product-focused engineers. These strategic collaborations align with the Make in India initiative, aiming to strengthen local design and manufacturing capabilities and empower homegrown talent to drive the future of industry."

Renesas also inaugurated its new offices in Bengaluru and Noida – two of India’s key semiconductor hubs. The new Bengaluru facility, now the company’s largest site in India, brings together approximately 500 employees, including engineers from recently acquired Altium and Part Analytics. The facility features state-of-the-art labs and collaborative spaces designed to harness India’s engineering talent for global innovation.

The Noida office integrates engineering and business functions, with a strong focus on high-performance computing and automotive SoC development through the company’s R-Car platform. This site is set to play a pivotal role in Renesas’ global product development strategy.

Going forward, Renesas aims to generate over 10 percent of its global revenue from India by 2030 and plans to expand its local workforce to 1,000 employees by end-2025. This follows recent strategic moves, including a collaboration with CG Power and Stars Microelectronics on an OSAT facility in Gujarat and an academic partnership with IIT Hyderabad.

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Greaves Electric Mobility, a leading player in the electric two-wheeler and three-wheeler segment, has announced that its Aero Vision concept was recently recognised among the Top 50 Designs at the 14th CII Design Excellence Awards 2024 in the Mobility Design category.

Inspired from the Arctic Tern, India’s advancement in space technology, sci-fi design and architecture were the key inspirations for the Aero Vision electric commercial vehicle.

The concept electric three-wheeler focusses on providing smart, sustainable and affordable three-wheeler mobility solutions for consumers.

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Bengaluru-headquartered design and technology services company Tata Elxsi has been selected by Mercedes-Benz Research and Development India (MBRDI) for supporting Vehicle Software Engineering and Software Defined Vehicles (SDV) development.

The German luxury brand has been integrating software architecture to enhance vehicle capabilities, create intuitive interfaces and optimise performance, elevating the user experience and evolving the vehicle with changing driver needs.

On the other hand, Tata Elxsi has been working with leading OEMs globally for their SDV platforms, accelerating the speed of innovation and software scalability across vehicle models and platforms, at lowered costs and shared accountability.

Together, the partners will strengthen their knowledge around autonomous, electric, connected vehicle technologies, AI and software-defined vehicles (SDV), supported by state-of-the-art labs and Mobility Innovation Centres and a portfolio of solutions including the AVENIR SDV suite and AUTONOMAI ADAS suite.

Manoj Raghavan, MD and CEO, Tata Elxsi, said, “This collaboration underscores our deep domain expertise and capabilities in automotive software and digital, including software defined vehicles, and provides us with a unique opportunity to contribute to the Mercedes-Benz vision of building the world's most desirable cars. We have been partnering with MBRDI for over a decade now, and this collaboration marks a milestone moment and sets the stage for further scaling and deepening our relationship.”

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General Motors and LG Energy Solution are set to commercialise lithium manganese-rich (LMR) prismatic battery cells, which will make its debut in future GM electric trucks and full-size SUVs.

Building on the earlier partnership to develop prismatic battery cell technology and related chemistries, GM is set to become the first automaker to deploy LMR batteries in EVs.

As part of the understanding, Ultium Cells, a GM and LG Energy Solution joint venture, will commence commercial production of LMR prismatic cells in the United States by 2028, with pre-production expected to begin at an LG Energy Solution facility by late 2027. The final production design of these LMR battery cells will be validated at GM’s Battery Cell Development Center in Warren, MI, which is expected to open earlier that year, as well as LG Energy Solution’s facility.

Unlike traditional battery chemistries, where cathodes is made of materials like cobalt, nickel and manganese, with cobalt being the most expensive. LMR battery cells use a higher proportion of more affordable manganese, while also delivering greater capacity and energy density.

The partners claim that the new LMR prismatic battery cell provides 33 percent higher energy density compared to the best-performing lithium iron phosphate (LFP) based cells – at a comparable cost.

At present, GM stated its e-truck platform has segment-leading range using high-nickel chemistry. Going forward, by integrating LMR battery technology and the manufacturing and space efficiency benefits of prismatic cells, GM aims to offer more than 400 miles (643km) of range in an e-truck while achieving significant battery pack cost savings compared to today’s high-nickel pack.

Kurt Kelly, VP of Battery, Propulsion and Sustainability, GM, said, “We’re pioneering manganese-rich battery technology to unlock premium range and performance at an affordable cost, especially in electric trucks. As we look to engineer the ideal battery for each vehicle in our diverse EV portfolio, LMR will complement our high-nickel and iron-phosphate solutions to expand customer choice in the truck and full-size SUV markets, advance American battery innovation, and create jobs well into the future.”

Wonjoon Suh, Executive VP and Head of the Advanced Automotive Battery Division at LG Energy Solution, added, “We’re excited to introduce the first-ever LMR prismatic cells for EVs, the culmination of our decades-long research and investment in the technology. GM’s future trucks powered by this new chemistry are a strong example of our shared commitment to offering diverse EV options to consumers.”

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Bengaluru-based design start-up TIEA Connectors has raised INR 220 million in its latest round of funding led by Jamwant Ventures and Valour Capital, with participation from 8X Ventures and IvyCap.

The start-up founded by Ajith Sasidharan (CEO) and Punit Shridhar Joshi (CTO) has been incubated at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc). It focusses on developing, designing and manufacturing components for various sectors such as electric vehicles (EV), aerospace, consumer electronics and defence.

The company’s interconnect solutions act as an alternative to imported components, with an aim to be a leading supplier for industrial solutions.

“We are thrilled to partner with Jamwant Ventures, Valour Capital, 8X Ventures and IvyCap as we scale our operations, drive innovation and continue delivering world-class solutions to our customers," said Ajith Sasidharan.

Karan Goshar, Managing Partner, Valour Capital, added, “Our investment in TIEA aligns with our mission to support indigenous manufacturing and enhance India's industrial ecosystem. The company’s demand is far exceeding supply and this funding will enable them to scale operations, expand manufacturing capacity and advance their R&D initiatives.”

Cdr Navneet Kaushik, Managing partner, Jamwant Ventures, added, “TIEA bridges the gap for creating specifically developed electronic and electrical connectors, enabling Indian manufacturers to focus on creation of their own innovative equipment/designs, with their supply chains within India. The need for a domestic player in this sector has been felt by the Indian defence sector for a long time. Jamwant is focussed on providing strategic capital to Indian entrepreneurs in defence and aerospace sectors.”

The start-up states it is already manufacturing capacity utilisation is already around 90 percent, with the new funding to be deployed towards expanding production capacity to meet the need of EVs, drones, aerospace and defence segments.

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