India’s human resource development minister Kapil Sibal has said that the promised Rs 1,500 ($35) laptop for students will be ready in a few weeks.
The New York Times has reported that the government aims to bring the price of the laptop further down to Rs 470 or $10 in its objective to change classroom teaching across India.
Sibal told The New York Times, "We have come out with the device at Rs 1,500 ($35) and now we invite individuals, entrepreneurs, firms and industries to produce the device at cheaper rates than this.
"We have demonstrated to the world that we have produced a cheaper device when the prices of computers are going up.
"All the naysayers will be unpleasantly surprised," Sibal said adding he already has a version of the laptop.
The minister also said that all aspects of development and manufacturing had been taken into account while arriving at the price tag of Rs 1,500.
The nearly a decade old project is believed to on the lines of Nicholas Negroponte’s One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project, which aims to provide a $100 laptop to millions of children in over 40 countries.
While unveiling a prototype of the laptop last year in July, Sibal had said, "This is our answer to MIT’s $100 computer."
After getting a lukewarm response from the private sector for the project, the ministry sought help from institutes like the IITs, IISc and VIT, Vellore.
The laptop — which features Internet browsing, 2GB RAM, W-Fi and USB — has been indigenously developed with custom-made low-cost motherboards and a 2-watt power system to make it work effectively in areas that have a poor power-supply, said the report.
"When we started the project, the response from the private sector was lukewarm. Now, many are willing to join the innovation," Sibal said.
Sibal had said last year that the government plans to manufacture over a million $35 laptops. It is expected that the laptops would be sold to colleges and universities in India.
The government has not disclosed who the manufacturers or distributors would be.
