HCL, Lenovo, Acer, HP eyeing big IT contract from UP Govt.

PC majors in India are looking at winning the contract to supply 1.6 million units of laptops in the first phase of the Uttar Pradesh Government's free laptop programme. This contract is viewed as the country's largest order for bulk supply of personal computers.

Apart from Indian PC maker HCL Infosystems, global PC makers like Acer, Lenovo and HP have qualified to the technical evaluation phase for the contract. In the first phase, the UP government is estimating to shell out Rs. 2,650 crore in the first phase.

The tender which is expected to be finalised on December 1, 2012 is seen as a big opportunity for the PC makers. However, sources from the industry say that, government contracts for bulk supply of PCs are not so profitable. "The government tenders become problematic when you don't have the infrastructure required to execute large projects. This adds to the costs. But as far as Acer is concerned, we have the required infrastructure and processes for immediate and faster dispatches besides after sales support," said Harish Kohli, Managing Director, Acer India.

Under the first phase of the free laptop programme for students, the Tamil Nadu government had passed a contract to six vendors last year. Under the contract, the vendors had to supply, 914,000 laptops but due to the stipulated time frame and the quoted price, many vendors could not supply the laptops.

In the second phase, Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu Ltd. (implementing agency for the free laptop programme in the state) had floated a tender asking for the supply of 724,000 additional units. For the second phase, the vendors are yet to be shortlisted.

As per sources, the configuration requirement of the laptops under UP's free laptop programme is expected to be of a superior quality.