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Dell to start operations at India factory in July

Dell Inc CEO Michael Dell said the company will start producing computers at its first factory in India in July as it forecast sales to double to US$1 billion.

He made his comments to reporters in New Delhi yesterday after meeting Dayanidhi Maran, federal minister for communications, without providing more details.

Dell, the world's second-largest personal-computer maker, said that annual sales in India were "rapidly" rising to US$1 billion, from about US$500 million last year.

The company could also boost its Indian workforce by half to take advantage of wage costs that are one-sixth of those in the US.

"With local manufacturing in place, Dell's most comprehensive presence in the world outside the US will be here in India," Dell said in a statement.

The Indian operations include sales, research and development, manufacturing and customer support, the statement said.

Dell plans to boost the number of its employees in India to almost 20,000 in two years, from the 13,000 who write software or work at the sales, research or customer-service units in the nation, Maran said on Nov. 17 at the opening of Dell's fourth customer-service in Gurgaon, near New Delhi.

Dell spent US$150 million on improving customer service last year to woo back buyers after losing the top sales spot in the global personal-computer market to Hewlett-Packard Co.

Michael Dell said on Jan. 31 that India needs to cut tariffs to attract foreign investment.

The company is taxed at 20 percent to 25 percent its computer costs in India, he said.
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