The Hindu Business Line : Dell manufacturing facility to be operational by year-end

CUSTOMERS TO GAIN: Mr Paul-Henri Ferrand , Vice-President & GM , Dell South Asia, and Mr Rajan Anandan, Vice-President & GM, Sales and Marketing , Dell India, at a press conference in the Capital on Thursday. - Kamal Narang

New Delhi , May 25

In a move aimed at accelerating its revenue growth in India beyond the current 40 per cent, Dell today said that its proposed manufacturing facility in the country would be operational by the end of this year, enabling it to pass on any cost benefits to consumers.

"We want to have the facility up and running by the end of this calendar year. Discussions are on with various States. Many have expressed interest in having Dell's manufacturing facility," said Mr Paul-Henri Ferrand, Vice-President and General Manager (South Asia), Dell Asia Pte Ltd.

The location for the new manufacturing plant is expected to be announced in a few weeks.

The facility would be Dell's fourth in the Asia-Pacific region. It has two facilities in China and one in Penang, Malaysia.

"The new facility would allow us to provide better delivery time and facilitate better customer experience. Currently, delivery time is about 12 days and that could get reduced to 3-5 days once we start manufacturing here," said Mr Ferrand.

"Clearly there will also be a cost difference due to logistics and the fact that we will be able to avail of tax incentives. Any cost benefit that accrue to us will be passed on to customers."

He also said that the manufacturing plans entailed a full-fledged plant; the company would initially focus on desktops.

The manufacturing plant in India would be a key element in the company's strategy to become the number one brand in India in the next few years, he added.

The company is currently ranked number four in India with an overall market share of five per cent. "In the last four quarters our revenues in India grew 40 per cent to $270 million," Mr Ferrand said.