Majority of Dell servers now made in India amid surge in local AI demand

Driven by a growing emphasis on data sovereignty and the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence, US tech major Dell Technologies is significantly expanding its domestic manufacturing footprint in India, with a majority of its servers now being produced locally, a senior company executive said on Tuesday.

Venkat Sitaram, Senior Director and Country Head, Infrastructure Solutions Group, India, Dell Technologies, said that while the locally manufactured products primarily serve the Indian market, the company will be open to exporting when the need arises.

"A large part of our portfolio, spanning across the client solutions group and infrastructure solutions group ... a majority of those servers are made in India. Locally, we participated in PLI 1.0; now in 2.0, we are a major player. We have that roadmap for continuing to serve our customers here with Make in India requirements," Sitaram told PTI.


The push for local infrastructure is being heavily influenced by Indian enterprises re-evaluating their cloud strategies. He noted a distinct shift towards hybrid architectures, where companies are choosing to keep sensitive and critical workloads on-premises rather than relying entirely on public clouds.

The demand for robust local infrastructure is further accelerated by the integration of AI into core business strategies, led by sectors such as banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI), telecommunications, healthcare, and government.

Addressing concerns about advanced AI systems replacing traditional IT and back-office jobs, Sitaram maintained a positive outlook for the tech job market.

"It's not replacing; it's in fact creating more and more... It's having a multiplier effect", he said, noting a rapid emergence of niche technical roles and a growing focus on skill-building among institutions and enterprises.

Dell on Tuesday announced the India launch of PowerStore Elite, a new-generation data platform.

The on-premises storage solution is designed to support complex AI workflows while ensuring that enterprise data remains secure within India's borders.

Sitaram described the platform as a "single point solution" capable of handling both legacy and modern AI workloads.

Alongside PowerStore Elite, the company also introduced a broader portfolio of AI infrastructure. This includes 'Dell Cyber Detect' for AI-powered ransomware detection at the storage layer and 'Dell PowerRack', an integrated rack-scale AI system.