Technology Policy and National Identity: The Microcomputer Comes to India

This article looks at India's IT industry history in the 1970s and early 1980s by focusing on the development of an indigenous microcomputer by the Hindustan Computers Limited (HCL). After gaining independence in 1947, the Indian government embarked on a program that focused on economic development, albeit with a socialist theme and central planning. Indigenization was the prime objective. Some industries were more favored than others, and electronics and computers were initially neglected and hobbled by restrictive policies. Foreign companies were pressured to reduce foreign equity. By the late-1970s, government efforts to induce IBM to transfer equity had failed. The government responded by forcing IBM to leave India and by relaxing policies and permitting local companies to import parts and components to develop computers locally. As a result, many private companies entered the computer sector. HCL was born in 1976 and released its first commercial system in 1978.