'Made In China' Jiobook: Reliance Retail Plans JV With Dixon, Sanmina For Domestic Production Of Laptop After Government Restricts Imports

Reliance Retail is exploring options to domestically manufacture its newly launched laptop, with the Union Government imposing restrictions on imports of laptops, tablets, personal computers and servers.

Last week, Reliance Retail unveiled a new laptop called JioBook. Priced at Rs 16,499 and made in China, the laptop has an 11-inch HD screen and runs on an octa-core chipset.

“The first lot of laptops required to meet the initial books for the laptop has already been imported. Reliance has been looking to manufacture more and more in India so even the laptops can be made here going forward,” The Hindu Business Line quoted an industry source.

Reliance may partner with leading contract electronic manufacturer Dixon Technologies for domestic production of laptops.

Dixon Technologies is already manufacturing Jio Bharat Phone. It won an order from Reliance Jio to manufacture 15 million Jio Bharat Phones. It has already delivered around a million phones to Reliance.

Reliance is also considering the option of domestic production through its manufacturing partner Sanmina.

In October 2022, Reliance Group announced it would invest Rs 1,670 crore in forming an electronics manufacturing joint venture with Sanmina to produce 4G and 5G telecom equipment, cloud infrastructure, healthcare systems, clean technology, and defence and aerospace for local and overseas markets.

Sanmina operates a 100-acre manufacturing unit in Chennai.

According to a few reports, Reliance also planned to tie up with Flex for manufacturing Jiobooks.

Curbs on import of Laptops, Tablets

The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) announced on Friday (August 4) that the new licensing regime for importing some categories of laptops, tablets and personal computers will come into effect beginning November 1.

On Thursday (August 3), the commerce ministry announced that hardware manufacturers will now require a valid licence and must pay duty to import PCs, laptops, tablets, servers etc.