India to Produce its Own Cheap One Laptop Per Child

The BBC today reported that India is to announce a educational technology investment that will not only impact the likes of the OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) programme but the whole educational space. India's National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technologies, is due to be unveiled at Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, on Tuesday and as part of this India will announce its own cheap laptop. The total service will be based around the one stop Sakshat educational portal

The cheap laptop will be part of a mission which will include spending on e-books and e-journals for students, development of translation tools, upgrades to educational networks. The speculation suggested that the laptop is likely to cost $100 (£70) and is being developed at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore and the Indian Institute of Technology in Madras. If this cost were to be achieved it would pose a serious thret to the OLPC and the Intel Classmate but could also mark a significant step change in the wider market outside of education.