By Sai Ishwarbharath B

BENGALURU, Nov 20 (Reuters) - U.S. chipmaker Marvell

Technology ( MRVL ) plans to boost hiring and research spending

in India to tap surging global demand for AI infrastructure, its

India head told Reuters.

The company aims to grow its 1,700-strong workforce in India

by 15% annually over the next three years, Navin Bishnoi said in

an interview on Wednesday, but refrained from giving details of

the expanded research and development budget.

Bengaluru serves as Marvell's ( MRVL ) India headquarters, while its

Hyderabad centre focuses on security solutions for data centers.

It has a team specialising in embedded development for

networking and storage in Pune.

India contributes a small portion of Marvell's ( MRVL ) revenue, but

Bishnoi expects that to grow as local data center capacity

expands and data protection laws tighten.

"India is now probably the third largest in data center

footprint," Bishnoi said, adding that Marvell ( MRVL ) is in talks with

hyperscalers, or large-scale cloud services providers, and local

companies to expand its client base.

As a fabless company that designs advanced chips for AI and

cloud infrastructure, Marvell ( MRVL ) does not manufacture chips but it

is in discussions with local assembly and testing firms to align

with their manufacturing plans.

These companies, known as outsourced semiconductor assembly

and test (OSAT) providers, handle chip packaging and testing

after fabrication.

While India is unlikely to become one of Marvell's ( MRVL ) top

revenue markets in the next five years, he sees long-term

potential.

"Ten years down the line, yes," Bishnoi said.

Marvell's ( MRVL ) expansion aligns with Prime Minister Narendra

Modi's efforts to make semiconductor manufacturing central to

India's economic strategy, reducing import dependence and

elevating its role in global electronics.

India does not have a large-scale chip fabrication plant

yet, but several projects and OSAT facilities are underway under

a $10 billion government incentive programme.

(Reporting by Sai Ishwarbharath B; Editing by Dhanya Skariachan

and Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)