New Delhi: Indian PC manufacturer HP has announced a collaboration with Google to produce Chromebooks in India starting from October 2. These Chromebook devices will be manufactured at the Flex Facility located near Chennai, where HP has been producing a variety of laptops and desktops since August 2020.
HP’s move to manufacture Chromebooks in India aligns with its goal to provide affordable PCs to Indian students, supporting the government’s “Make in India” initiative. Vickram Bedi, Senior Director – Personal Systems at HP India, emphasized the importance of local production in ensuring students’ easy access to cost-effective computing solutions.
HP is among the participants in the government’s ₹17,000 crore production linked incentive scheme for IT hardware.
Google, the developer of the Chrome operating system (ChromeOS) used in Chromebooks, has also welcomed this initiative. Bani Dhawan, Head of Education – South Asia at Google, recognized the significance of producing Chromebooks locally in advancing digital education in India.
Chromebooks, equipped with ChromeOS, typically come at a lower price point compared to traditional notebooks with proprietary operating systems. They have gained popularity in K-12 education globally, with over 50 million students and teachers using them.
This collaboration between HP and Google aims to contribute to India’s digital education ecosystem. It intends to provide affordable, secure, and high-quality computing devices to educational authorities, schools, and institutions, thus enhancing the learning experience for students.
This development also marks an expansion of HP’s India-made PC portfolio. HP began expanding its manufacturing operations in India in 2020. Since December 2021, it has been producing a wide range of laptops locally, including HP EliteBooks, HP ProBooks, and HP G8 series notebooks. Additionally, HP has broadened its locally-manufactured commercial desktop lineup by introducing various models of desktop mini towers (MT), mini desktops (DM), small form factor (SFF) desktops, and All-in-One PCs.
