Nvidia opens first research center in India

BANGALORE: Graphics chips designer Nvidia Corp. launched its first research center in India and said it could spend a quarter of its total research and development funds on its Bangalore operations in the future.

"I wouldn't hesitate to believe that we spend 25 percent of our R&D dollars here over time," Nvidia Chief Executive Jen-Hsun Huang said at a press conference in the southern Indian city to announce the launch.

The Indian center will eventually be the largest outside the United States and have at least 100 engineers by the end of 2005, he said.

The Santa Clara, California-based company has similar centers in Germany, the UK, Taiwan and China.

The company, which makes graphic chips for Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox gaming console and will supply chips for Sony Corp.'s next-generation Play Station console, expects to invest $500 million on research globally this year.

Huang said 140 engineers, or 10 percent of the company's engineers across centers, are Indians. The Indian entry is focused on tapping local talent, partnership possibilities and on cultivating the Indian market.