ATS India (Automated Tooling Systems India), an industrial automation and engineering services company, has announced a strategic partnership with Hirata Corporation, a Japanese manufacturer of automation and semiconductor manufacturing equipment. Under the partnership, ATS India will serve as Hirata’s exclusive distribution partner in India, bringing Hirata’s globally proven equipment and technology portfolio to the country.

The collaboration comes at a time when India is accelerating efforts to build domestic semiconductor manufacturing capabilities.

India’s semiconductor manufacturing ecosystem is still at an early stage of development, and access to reliable, globally benchmarked backend equipment and automation solutions has remained challenging for manufacturers. Long lead times, cross-border coordination and limited local support have often impacted adoption. Through its partnership with ATS India, Hirata aims to address this gap by establishing a stronger presence in the Indian market.

The partnership builds on an existing relationship between Hirata and ATS spanning more than a decade across sectors including automotive, extending this collaboration into the semiconductor domain.

In the initial phase, Hirata will focus on its standard product offerings in India, where it sees immediate opportunities given the current stage of the semiconductor ecosystem. Through this partnership, ATS India will introduce Hirata’s advanced semiconductor automation and material-handling technologies, including Equipment Front End Modules (EFEM), FOPLP Load Ports, PLP Panel Handling Robots and high-performance Wafer Handling Robots.

These solutions enable precise, reliable and efficient wafer and panel handling across semiconductor manufacturing and advanced packaging processes.

The next phase of growth for India’s EMS sector is expected to move beyond assembly-led manufacturing towards greater depth in components, engineering and higher-complexity manufacturing. This partnership is designed to support this transition, with a focus on semiconductor manufacturing, backend/OSAT processes, advanced packaging, and wafer and panel handling automation.

Kishen Kavikondala, CEO of ATS India, said, “The focus of this partnership is on building the local commercial, technical and service ecosystem that Indian semiconductor manufacturers will need as their capacity grows over the next decade as India’s semiconductor manufacturing capacity and supporting ecosystem continue to mature. The emphasis will be on precision manufacturing solutions, before expanding into more customised, application-specific offerings as the market matures.”

He added, “We see significant potential in India’s equipment design capabilities, a multi-million-dollar opportunity by 2030 that ATS India is well positioned to tap into. By making Hirata’s advanced equipment locally available, semiconductor and electronics manufacturers in India will no longer need to depend on cross-border logistics or delayed technical support that have historically slowed adoption.”

This shift is expected to support faster equipment deployment, reduced downtime through local servicing and greater confidence among global and domestic manufacturers evaluating India as a semiconductor manufacturing destination.

John Derzy, Vice President, Hirata Corporation of America, said: “India represents one of the most important growth markets for Hirata as global semiconductor and electronics manufacturing continues to diversify. This partnership is not just about bringing a product or technology into India, it’s about building long-term capability.”

He added, “A larger goal underpinning this partnership is bringing greater automation to semiconductor manufacturing processes in India, particularly across OSAT (Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test) operations, which remain largely manual or semi-automated in the Indian context today.”

According to Derzy, automation will be a key differentiator in Hirata’s offering through this partnership. “Over the next two to three years, we expect this collaboration to fundamentally change how Indian manufacturers access and adopt advanced semiconductor equipment technology that has powered semiconductor ecosystems in Japan, Malaysia, Taiwan, and other advanced manufacturing hubs,” he said.

Beyond direct employment, the partnership will also strengthen the local supply chain ecosystem and enable skill development in precision manufacturing.

The partnership aligns with the Government of India’s continued efforts to strengthen domestic semiconductor and EMS capabilities. The electronic manufacturing services (EMS) market in India is expected to exceed $150 billion by FY30, driven by domestic demand, policy support and China+1 strategies, compared with $40–45 billion in 2025.

Over the next two to three years, as India’s semiconductor manufacturing base continues to scale through government-led initiatives, the partnership aims to position both companies as key enablers of this growth, supporting the broader vision of building a self-reliant and globally competitive electronics manufacturing ecosystem in India.