Bharat Forge arm partners with Taiwan-based firm to manufacture X86 servers in India

Kalyani Powertrain, an arm of Bharat Forge, on Thursday, said it has entered into a technology licensing agreement with Taiwan's Compal Electronics for manufacturing of 'X86 platform' servers in India. The two parties have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to develop the server business using locally-manufactured solutions in India.

X86 platform is a widely used computer architecture for central processing units (CPUs). It is a dominant architecture for personal computers and servers.

Compal will provide Kalyani Powertrain with technological support related to servers, including overseeing local production, assembly, testing activities and final sales, the company said in an exchange filing.

"This association will give a strong impetus to India's manufacturing competitiveness," Amit Kalyani, the vice-chairman and joint MD of Bharat Forge, said.

Last Month, Kalyani Powertrain announced its partnership with US chipmaker AMD for building 'Made in India' servers from its manufacturing facility in Pune, Maharashtra. The partnership will address India's increasing demand for high-performance computing, with servers equipped with AMD EPYC processors, known for their energy efficiency and security. This initiative aims to lower the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) for data centres.

Compal CEO Tony Bonadero said Kalyani Powertrain's extensive experience in the Indian market will create synergistic effects in the collaboration. "We look forward to this being just the beginning, with more ICT-related business opportunities in the future to create greater value together," he said.

In April 2024, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) announced that its “Made in India” servers built in partnership with Indian manufacturer VVDN Technologies are rolled out at a large scale to meet the increasing demands of Indian customers. Antonio Neri, president and CEO of HPE told TechCircle that the collaboration aims to manufacture approximately $1 billion worth of servers in the first five years of production at VVDN’s manufacturing site in Manesar, Haryana.

Read more: We’re open to meaningful acquisitions that add value to our portfolio: Antonio Neri, HPE CEO

In September, tech giant Lenovo said it is manufacturing AI servers in India. The production line at its Puducherry facility, operational since 2005, will now produce enterprise AI and GPU servers for AI workloads to meet rising local and international demand. These servers will utilize Lenovo’s advanced 8-way GPU architecture, with over 60% of production aimed at export in the Asia-Pacific region, the company said.

According to market research firm International Data Corporation, India's server market was worth $2.8 billion in revenue by 2025, with an annual growth rate of 10.26% until 2029, potentially reaching nearly $3 billion.