Make In India: Dixon To Manufacture PCs & Laptops For HP In India

Homegrown electronics maker Dixon’s subsidiary Padget Electronics has inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with HP India to manufacture personal computers (PCs) and laptops. 

In a filing with the BSE, Dixon said that the deal will be subject to signing of definitive agreements in due course. The partnership will enable HP India to leverage the Centre’s production linked incentive scheme (PLI 2.0) and shore up the domestic production of its products. 

Speaking with ANI, information technology minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that the manufacturing unit, located in Tamil Nadu, will initially employ about 1,500 persons. He added that as production increases, the employment will also increase at the unit. 

The IT minister also said that the first laptop will be shipped out of the factory by February 2025. 

It is pertinent to note that Padget is setting up a new facility in Tamil Nadu’s Oragadam under the PLI scheme for manufacturing laptops and other IT hardware products. As per reports, the new facility, spanning 3 Lakh sq. ft., will be capable of producing 2 Mn units annually. 

“It gives us immense pleasure to partner with the iconic brand HP to manufacture PCs under PLI 2.0… We are sure that with HP’s vision and rigorous industry-leading processes, combined with our expertise in manufacturing, we will be able to bring a range of HP personal systems to Indian customers,” said Dixon chairman and managing director (MD) Atul Lall.

Commenting on the collaboration, HP India MD Ipsita Dasgupta said, “We are excited to announce HP’s partnership with Dixon Technologies to manufacture HP products under the production linked incentive scheme (PLI 2.0)… Through this partnership we look forward to offering our customers in India an enhanced portfolio of domestically manufactured products that combine HP’s cutting-edge technology with Dixon’s manufacturing expertise.”

The partnership comes ahead of the September 30 deadline for the expiration of the import authorisation regime for IT hardware products.

In October last year, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) imposed restrictions on imports of certain IT hardware items including servers, computers, and data processing machines. At the time, the government cited national security concerns and data safety of Indians for imposing such a move. 

Afterwards, the government directed companies to apply for government authorisation to import these products. The regime has continued since then and is currently being re-negotiated between the Centre and industry stakeholders. 

As per reports, imports of the seven IT hardware items under the import authorisation regime, implemented in October 2023, declined 3.4% year-on-year (YoY) to $8.4 Bn in fiscal year 2023-24 (FY24). Of this, China accounted for 58%-60% of total imports.