Year of the computer introduced in India.

In the early days of computer, only large corporations and businesses could afford a mainframe computer, and these machines were used for tasks like issuing payrolls and for analyzing huge data-sets (like a population census). The Indian Statistical Institute in Calcutta acquired the first computer in Indian in 1955. Additional computers were purchased in India, mainly from IBM. By 1972, there 172 computers in India, and three-fourths of these were made by IBM. In 1977, the Indian government refused to allow more than 50 percent ownership by foreigners of any company operating in the nation. IBM refused to sell majority ownership of its Indian operations, and was thus forced to leave India. Later, after 1984, Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi changed government policies to encourage an indigenous microcomputer industry. Imports were liberalized, and international standards were followed by Indian computer manufacturers so that their products could compete more effectively in the global marketplace. Eventually, with the miniaturization of computer components, the minicomputer was developed. It was about the size of a refrigerator, cost about $50,000, and was also used mainly for number crunching tasks.The microcomputer was created in the early 1970s using semiconductors as components. It was small enough to sit on a desktop, and the cost dropped to a few thousand dollars. The microcomputer was designed to be owned and used by a single person(therefore called Personal computer)