Supply of laptops to India is likely to be delayed as production of its critical components from Thailand, a major manufacturing hub, has got disrupted due to floods there.

IT hardware industry body MAIT said disruption in laptop supplies could hit even the big government projects for which orders have already been placed.

"The recent flood in Thailand has affected manufacturing facility of hard disk companies which has caused disruption in global supply chain. Hence, there can be some delays in supply of laptops in Indian market as well," MAIT President Alok Bharadwaj told PTI.

He said Thailand is a major component base of IT hardware products and accounts for close to 40 per cent of the total hard disk drive (HDD) supplied globally.

"Industry estimates that it should take around six weeks to get back to normal situation. In the meantime, the worry is that the delay in supply to government projects could even invite penalty," Bharadwaj said.

He said the Manufacturers' Association for Information Technology has requested the respective government departments to extend deadline for the supply which will provide some relief to the industry.

"Companies could not do anything in this kind of unforeseen circumstances," he added. He said India has emerged as one of leading markets for computer sales and companies are diverting their stocks from other countries to India to meet the demand.

"Still projects where order is of high magnitude will suffer. Annual laptop sales in India is around 40 lakh and Tamil Nadu government has ordered for 9 lakh laptops for students under its scheme. This is a large size order where delay can happen," Bharadwaj said.

Bharadwaj said availability of stock varies from company to company but industry estimates that companies can meet two months demand of Indian retail market.

"The prices of HDD in local retail markets have increased by almost 50 per cent. Local HDD players are taking benefit of the situation and hoarding stock. They are releasing it small quantity which will increase price of locally assembled desktops," Bharadwaj said.

He said there are price pressure on companies but at the moment none of the members of Manufacturers Association for Information Technology have indicated to increase price due to rise in price of HDD. MAIT members include all major personal computer brands like HP, Dell, Lenovo, HCL, Wipro and others.