Tech Giant Intel Collaborates With Eight Companies To Make Laptops In India

Tech giant Intel on Friday (November 03) announced that it has collaborated with eight electronics manufacturing services (EMS) and original design manufacturers (ODMs) in India to manufacture laptops in the nation.

The names of Intel’s manufacturing partners include Bhagwati Products, Dixon Technologies India, Kaynes Technology India, Optiemus Electronics, Panache Digilife, Smile Electronics, Syrma SGS Technology, and VVDN Technologies 

“I am very pleased that global organisations like Intel are partnering with India helping to build and catalyse the electronics manufacturing ecosystem for laptops and computers,” MoS Rajeev Chandrasekhar said on the development. 

He added that such collaborations align with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of India’s $1 Tn digital economy and to develop an electronic devices manufacturing ecosystem in the country.

As part of the deal, Intel will offer its expertise to the partners to boost the production of complete entry-level laptops in the country, including utilisation of SMT lines, setting up a quality control process for components and even benchmarking the finished products. 

Commenting on the development, Intel’s India VP and MD Santhosh Viswanathan said, “By enabling the laptop manufacturing process – from surface mount technology assembly to finished product – we are not only meeting the demands of the Make in India initiative but also contributing to the technological progress of the nation.”

The development comes a day after the Indian government approved 100 applications for importing laptops, computers and other IT hardware items. The government has received about 111 requests from several tech majors, including HP, Dell, Acer, Lenovo, and Samsung, among others.

The approval of the applications came as a result of the government’s decision to roll back the restrictions on the import of such products, which were imposed months back. 

After the restrictions were imposed, the government received applications from some global IT and hardware companies for the PLI Scheme 2.0 to begin domestic manufacturing of such products. 

Unsure of the situation, many global tech giants have turned towards India for manufacturing their products. Recently, Samsung was reported to be planning to commence laptop manufacturing at its Delhi NCR unit. According to media reports, if things go as planned, Samsung will be the first global company to manufacture laptops in India.