The world's largest computer maker Dell on Tuesday said its Chennai plant will become operational by July this year and was expecting its India revenues moving toward $1-billion mark.

"Our Chennai factory will be operational by July," the company's founder and CEO Michael Dell said at a press conference.

He said that the India factory would cater to the domestic market to start with. The factory would have the capacity of 400,000 units per annum.

When asked whether the capacity was too little in the Indian market for PCs that has touched 6.5 million units, Dell said that the capacity would be ramped up as the demand increases.

He said that the company's revenues in India grew 70 per cent year-on-year last year to $500 million and we were rapidly closing toward $1 billion, Dell said.

He said that Dell has already become the number one player in the commercial market. In server and storage business we have grown our market share to 19 per cent from 9 per cent.

In India, the company is also looking at alternate models to grow the market including greater focus on consumer segment, low-cost computers and machines suited to India conditions.

"We will look at broader opportunities . . . sure we will look at low-cost personal computers," Dell said when asked whether the company will look to address lower end of the segment.

Dell said the company's research centre in India, which was designing systems for the world market, would also work on India-specific systems.

He said that Dell has created a division to look at the consumer business and in India there would be a greater focus on this segment.

"We have sought approval from Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) to sell our computers to consumers online," a Dell official in India said. The company already has permission to sell its products online to businesses and enterprises.

Dell, which has pioneered the model of selling directly to consumers, is opening display centres in its largest market - the US - as part of its greater focus on home market.

Similar display centres could come up in India too. "We are looking at reaching out to customers in a big way," he said.

The company, which is facing tough competition from the number two player Hewlett Packard, is looking at India to push its growth where it has entered late.

"Emerging markets have a major role to play . . . India is at the centrestage for growth," Dell said.

He said in India 25 per cent of the costs of technology products were accounted for by taxes. If high taxes were taken care of, the Indian market could grow at a faster pace and many more manufacturers could set up heir units here, Dell said.

He said Dell sources $19 billion worth of components from China and Taiwan while nothing from India. This could change once high taxation was addressed.

India an exciting place now: Dell

At a CII-CEOs Forum held in New Delhi on Tuesday, Michael Dell said that India is one of the centres of the world's technology transformation.

"We are about to see an evolution in technology like the world has never seen, and India will play a key role as the total number of people online goes from one billion today -- or less than 16 per cent of the world's population - to two billion over the next few years," said Dell.

"India is an exciting place to be right now. Your technology industry is booming. Your economy is growing at about 9 per cent a year. And the future will be one of innovation and positive change in the world of technology. The Dell team is proud to join you on this journey."

Dell said India currently has about 50 million people online, which is less than 5 per cent of the population. He also said Internet use in the country has increased 700 percent since the year 2000. More important, he said, is for companies such as Dell to help the second billion people worldwide, many from India, to get online so that they can participate and compete in the economy today and tomorrow.