220 million units of Aakash tablets needed in the future, says Govt

Despite its technical limitations, there’s a huge demand for Aakash tablets. There is a requirement for additional 22 crore units of the world’s cheapest tablet Aakash, for the government to move ahead with this project, the Times of India reports.

“We have received requests for Aakash from America, Panama, Ecuador and other African countries,” Additional Secretary, HRD Ministry N K Sinha told the newspaper.
“Initially, we bought one lakh Aakash tablets but we need 22 crore more tablets in the coming years as per the Ministry of Human Resource. To manufacture Aakash in such large numbers, fresh tenders will be released again and other companies along with Datawind (the London-based company that develops it) will also get a chance.”
Sinha also added that that the technical issues of the device, including its poor battery, slow processor speed and the overall build are being looked into. Reports also stated that Aakash’s maker Datawind is planning to establish three new factories in Cochin, Noida and Hyderabad to assemble the tablet, next year.
The government also plans to launch the next version of Aakash – Ubislate 7+  by Jan. The newer version of the tablet will be twice as fast with a 700 Mhz processor, compared to the 366 Mhz processor in the current tablet, and will be priced at Rs 2999.

This post was written by Swati, Editor for Buzzom, Asia’s No 1 Social Media Blog.