HP India to start local laptop, PC manufacturing in May; eyes doubling output under PLI scheme

Ipsita Dasgupta, Senior Vice President and Managing Director of HP's India market.

HP India will begin local manufacturing of its laptops, PCs, and all-in-one systems in May through its partnership with Dixon Technologies. The company aims to nearly double its production capacity compared to last year, according to Ipsita Dasgupta, Senior Vice President and Managing Director of HP's India market.

"(The target) is almost double the capacity of what we did last year without PLI," Dasgupta told Moneycontrol in an interview. HP is one of the 27 beneficiaries of the IT Hardware PLI.

HP is among the 27 beneficiaries under the Rs 17,000-crore IT Hardware PLI scheme, which was introduced in 2023.

When asked about potential concerns related to the import management system for laptops, PCs and tablets— which has recently drawn criticism from the US government in a trade report — Dasgupta said HP remains confident in its operations in India.

Dasgupta said, "We've expressed that we are very excited to work with government to drive value in market. And we are market leaders in the market. We know consumers in India benefit from our existence."

"We want to manufacture more in India and and participate. We are pretty confident that government will help us make sure that happens. So I don't have a concern that we won't get what we need to be able to continue to drive the size of business that we have," she added.

On whether HP sees India as part of its China+1 diversification strategy, Dasgupta responded with a broader view.

“We have the same strategy for India that we had before the whole tariff situation — we want to partner with India on its goal to be part of the global value supply chain,” she said. “So we will continuously increase our manufacturing in India percentages year-on-year.”

Dasgupta also noted that HP’s manufacturing roadmap includes a focus on enhancing value addition locally, but did not comment on whether the company would apply under the newly announced Rs 23,000-crore component PLI scheme.

Dasgupta also spoke about demand trends across HP’s business segments.

“We’ve seen really strong growth on the commercial side of the business... and now we are seeing an uptake on the consumer side, which is good to see,” she said, attributing it in part to seasonal demand driven by the back-to-school and upcoming festive season cycles.

On the commercial front, large enterprises, IT and ITeS players, and increasingly India Inc. — large Indian firms — are driving growth. The company is also seeing strong momentum among MSMEs, including those outside tier-1 cities.

Dasgupta said HP has launched a new format called “HP Connect” — customer welcome centers in MSME clusters — that provide both access to commercial hardware and IT guidance. “These centers have almost become like CIO-as-a-service,” she said, especially for smaller firms that lack dedicated IT teams.

On the consumer side, Dasgupta highlighted three key growth drivers: gaming, freelance creators, and education.  “We have a very successful gaming PC business,” she said, noting that freelancers — from video editors to yoga instructors offering virtual classes — are increasingly choosing powerful PCs over tablets or phones.

“We’re still a country where Indian households spend to better the household situation, either through income generation or education,” she added.