Dell to manufacture in India

Dell recently commenced work on its India manufacturing plant with an initial investment of $ 310 million. The 50-acre plant is being set up at the Sriperumbudur Hitech Park in Chennai. Dell hopes to bring about a change in the Indian computer-manufacturing scene because of Dell’s own manufacturing and supply chains.

Dell currently has about eight manufacturing plants around the world. The India plant would be Dell’s third in the Asia Pacific region, with two in Malaysia and China. Hiring for the new plant has already begun and in process. The Asia Pacific plants (including the plant at Chennai) are scheduled to start production by the first half of 2007. Dell believes that this will cut down delivery time for its Indian consumers.

In India, Dell plans an initial capacity of producing 4,00,000 units annually and based on the demand and need to scale up further. This production will currently concentrate mainly on the desktop computers as they contribute to a majority (60 percent) of Dell’s business in India.

The company is also setting up its fourth call centre in India at Gurgaon.