Years ago, Electronics Corporation of India Ltd in the predominantly Islamic city of Hyderabad in Andra Pradesh, central India, was struggling laboriously to perfect a mainframe derived from Iris 50 licences from a predecessor company to Compagnie des Machines Bull SA, and has been through several mainframe adventures since. Now, reports Newsbytes, it has finally grasped where the world is heading, and is to turn its hand to manufacturing personal computers. It has chosen as its partner Verness Tech Pte Ltd of Singapore. The Indian state-owned company has signed a memorandum of understanding with Verness to set up an equally-owned joint venture to produce Verness’s range of 80286-80386- and 80486-based personal computers for the local market. Local components will be minimal but there will be a considerable amount of value addition, claims G R Pie, general manager, corporate marketing. The company plans to launch the line under its own name in three months, aiming at government and big firms.
