A step towards bolstering digital education and supporting the "Make in India" initiative, HP has announced a strategic collaboration with Google. This joint venture aims to manufacture Chromebooks within India, a move that holds great promise for enhancing access to affordable computing solutions, particularly for students who may face financial constraints when purchasing expensive laptops. The partnership has the potential to benefit educational institutions and schools by making digital learning more accessible and widespread.

HP has disclosed that the manufacturing of these Chromebooks will take place at the Flex Facility located near Chennai, Tamil Nadu, with production commencing on October 2. It's worth noting that Chromebooks operate on Google's ChromeOS, a streamlined operating system tailored for budget-friendly PCs.

“HP is committed to advancing digital equity, and we have been driving many initiatives to enable digital education across India. Manufacturing Chromebook laptops in India will allow Indian students to get easy access to affordable PCs,” Vickram Bedi, Senior Director – Personal Systems, HP India said.

Google's Bani Dhawan, Head of Education, South Asia, said, “At Google, we’ve been working closely with the local education ecosystem, supporting them in their transition to digital-first learning experiences through our products and teacher programs. The local production of Chromebooks with HP marks an important step in our efforts to continue supporting the digital transformation of education in India.”

Furthermore, Google aims to extend the accessibility of technology across society, striving for its widespread use.

In a related development, the Indian government recently imposed restrictions on laptop imports, initially setting a deadline for November 1st of this year. However, recognizing the challenges faced by OEMs in scaling up production, this deadline has been extended to an undisclosed future date.

HP has been operating its production facilities at the Flex Facility near Chennai since August 2020. This expansion into manufacturing the new line of Chromebooks at the same location demonstrates HP's commitment to its India-made PC portfolio, which encompasses HP EliteBooks, HP ProBooks, HP G8 series notebooks, and a variety of commercial desktop models, including mini towers (MT), mini desktops (DM), small form factor (SFF) desktops, and All-In-One systems.

Image source: News18