India Plans “$10 Laptop”

The Indian Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) is aiming for a $10 laptop computer. Two designs are currently under consideration: one from a final-year engineering student, and another from a researcher at the Indian Institute of Science. The public-sector company Semiconductor Complex has also shown some interest, Electronista reports.

In both of the submitted designs, according to Times of India, all components would be located on a single circuitboard. This would keep prices down and make it easier to find and repair problems. The current estimated price of a laptop is $47. The HRD hopes to push this down with mass production, shipping at least one million of these computers to people in India.

“Industry and academic representatives will meet in Bangalore later this month to further evaluate designs and encourage more proposals. In any case, one anonymous official believes it will be two years before a laptop enters production,” the reports say.

Electronista