Technology major HP eyeing UP carpet manufacturers

Technology major Hewlett-Packard (HP) has got its eyes set on the carpet belt of Bhadoli in Uttar Pradesh for its new range of cloud-enabled printing solutions.

The company is planning to hold sessions with the leading carpet manufacturers and exporters in the region to market its web-connected large format printers.

“HP has a two decade-long association with the carpet manufacturers in Bhadohi through its printing solutions. We will be taking this association to the next level with India’s first cloud enabled printers,” Mahesh Soni, HP country manager (design business), printing and personal systems, said while speaking to Business Standard here.

The manufacturers employ large and specialised printers for carpet designs and proofs before being woven or knitted.

The UP carpet belt encompasses Bhadohi, Mirzapur and Varanasi in eastern UP with around 200 manufacturing units, mostly catering to the export market. Carpet exports worth around Rs 2,000 crore are done from UP, which accounts for about 60 per cent of the annual carpet exports from India.

UP is the largest exporter of hand-woven, -knotted and -tufted carpets. US is the largest export destination for Indian carpets with 50 per cent market share. In Europe, Germany is a major market and other destinations include Italy, Spain, Turkey and Arabian countries.

With the new product line, HP is targetting architecture, engineering and construction students and professionals among others. The prices start from Rs 80,000.

“We will hold road shows in major towns and associate with top-30 architecture institutes for our new printers,” he informed.