HPE rolls out ‘made-in-India’ servers to meet growing enterprise demand

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) has announced that its “Made in India” servers are now being deployed at a large scale to meet the increasing demands of Indian customers, ahead of schedule, the company said in a statement.

In December, Antonio Neri, president and CEO of HPE told Mint that the company is investing in manufacturing in India and that it intends to produce high-volume servers worth $1 billion in the first five years at a manufacturing site in Manesar, Haryana. "This manufacturing operation will support the growing demand from customers in India and strengthen HPE’s global supply chain. We are also considering investments in networking and computing,” he said.

The servers, designed to support a variety of applications and workloads, are produced at VVDN’s cutting-edge facility in Manesar, Haryana. The announcement follows HPE’s “Make in India” plan unveiled in July 2023, in partnership with Indian manufacturer VVDN Technologies. 
The collaboration aims to manufacture approximately $1 billion worth of servers in the first five years of production.

VVDN’s state-of-the-art manufacturing facility was set up quickly and is now fully operational. Both companies prioritized automation, quality, and control of operations during the eight-month setup period. These servers enable Indian businesses to optimize IT infrastructure and gain a competitive edge in today’s digital age.

Som Satsangi, SVP and managing director of HPE India credited the government and the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY) for introducing the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) program. He stated, “Their vision has encouraged OEMs like us to establish a manufacturing footprint in India.” He emphasized HPE’s commitment to innovation, local talent, and India’s economic growth.

Printed Circuit Board Assembly (PCBA) through surface-mounted technology is one of the most complex aspects of server manufacturing, and HPE’s PCBA capability in India significantly enhances the value of its servers, the company mentioned in a statement.

The $29 billion global technology major’s plan to manufacture servers in India aligns with its broader goal of supply chain diversification and resiliency. The company is also exploring ways to deepen localization by leveraging VVDN’s backward integration capability and expanding its portfolio of products made in India.

HPE India has the highest number of employees outside the US, accounting for more than 25% of the total company headcount. Neri said, “We are excited about the government’s efforts to modernize infrastructure and believe that the country has the potential to become a hub for large-scale manufacturing, and our next phase aligns with the Indian government’s policies." He also informed that over the past three years, HPE has received 1,873 US patents, with 366 patents filed by the R&D team in India.