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Journalism of Courage
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday virtually interacted with Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai and discussed Google’s plan to expand its electronics manufacturing capabilities in India.
According to an official statement issued by the Indian government, the Prime Minister appreciated Google’s partnership with Hewlett Packard (HP) to manufacture Chromebooks in India.
Google recently started producing its Chromebook laptops in India through a partnership forged with HP, in a major boost to the country’s electronics manufacturing ambitions.
The move puts Google among the most high-profile names to kickstart manufacturing in India as companies across the world look to diversify their supply chains in the wake of turbulent geopolitical times.
The Chromebooks — laptops that run on Google’s Chrome operating system — will be manufactured at the Flex facility near Chennai, where HP has been producing a range of laptops and desktops since August 2020. The production has started from October 2 and will cater to the demand for affordable PCs in India, mainly from the education sector.
Chromebooks are among the most popular laptops used in educational institutions worldwide, but are yet to find mainstream traction in India, where laptops running on the Windows operating system continue to rule the roost.
The move will help Google compete more effectively with Windows computers from companies such as Dell, Lenovo, and Asus.
While India has a big domestic demand for laptops and computers, almost all of it is currently being fulfilled by imports from China, something New Delhi wants to change as soon as possible.
India has seen an increase in imports of electronic goods and laptops/computers in the last few years. During April-June this year, the import of electronic goods increased to $6.96 billion from $4.73 billion in the year-ago period, with a share of 4-7 per cent in overall imports.
The highest share of imports is in the category of personal computers, including laptops and palmtops, under which imports from China stood at $558.36 million in April-May this year as against $618.26 million in the year-ago period. China accounts for roughly 70-80 per cent of the share of India’s imports of personal computers, laptops.
PM Modi also encouraged Google to develop artificial intelligence (AI) tools for good governance. He also welcomed the company’s plans to open its global fintech operations centre at the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT) in Gandhinagar.
