HP to expand India manufacturing to address surge in PC demand

April 27, 2020
Gurugram: In another fillip to Make in India in the tough COVID-19 times, PC and printing major HP Inc on Monday announced it is expanding its manufacturing footprint in India with setting up a new facility in Chennai with electronics giant Flex Ltd.

Flex will manufacture HP Desktops and Workstation PCs at the plant on a contractual basis. The facility is scheduled to be operational from August this year.

The plant will have the flexibility to scale up manufacturing capabilities on demand.

“We have a long-standing and successful relationship with Flex in other parts of the world. Having a strong presence in Chennai also has several geographical advantages, such as proximity to the port that allows us to get raw materials from other parts of Asia more quickly,” Vinay Awasthi, Managing Director, HP Inc. India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, told IANS.

“It is also near a spare parts facility in Bengaluru. This move supports HP’s deep commitment to India and will position us well to continue meeting customer needs throughout the country,” Awasthi added.

The move is crucial at a time when organisations are revisiting their global supply chain and logistics strategies in COVID-19 times.

HP has been growing in India, consistently registering double digit revenue growth. According to the IDC, almost every third PC and every second printer being sold in India belongs to HP.

The company has been present in India for over three decades and has been a partner in India’s journey of technology adoption, innovation and digital transformation.

According to Awasthi, the Chennai manufacturing facility is also closer to the spare parts facility in Bengaluru that can further improve the company’s operational efficiency.

“We are focused on getting this facility operational by August 2020. We are transforming our business into a more digitally enabled, data-driven organisation to deliver hyper-targeted and personalized offers to better serve our partners and customers,” he informed.

HP India has more than 7,000 employees in India and after recent restructuring, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka businesses have become part of India market operations.

The company has a Print R&D center in Bengaluru and a manufacturing plant in Pantnagar in Uttarakhand since 2006.

It enjoys close to 600 exclusive HP World stores and a strong network of 10,000 partners and resellers in the country.

According to industry sources, HP India has close to $2 billion annual revenue from India.

Awasthi said that PC adoption in India will pick up momentum in the coming years.

“Enterprises, SMBs and almost all consumer segments will drive momentum of PC adoption in India,” said the senior company executive. IANS