Lenovo wins bid to supply affordable laptops to Tamil Nadu students

An attempt by the Tamil Nadu government to give away low-cost laptops to the students in state-aided colleges and high schools has found its lowest bidder in Lenovo. According to a report in the Live Mint, Lenovo, like HCL was among several others in the race who quoted their bid of the costs for manufacturing the low-cost laptops. However, a Rs. 13,939 price quoted by Lenovo as the manufacturing cost of each unit of the laptop sweetened the deal for them.

Now, will manufacture affordable laptops

Elections in this south Indian state are fast approaching, and for the current pre-election stage, Chief Minister, J. Jayalalitha had pledged to give out as many as 9,06,000 units of these affordable laptops to the students, all within the current fiscal year. The price quoted by Lenovo for manufacturing these low-cost laptops, according to reports is cheaper by almost Rs. 10,000 than the retail version of these laptops, currently available in the market. HCL Infosystems it is learnt turned out to be the second lowest bidder in the race, with a price tag of Rs. 14,452.

The Tamil Nadu government plans to dole out as many as 6.8 million such laptops among students in the state. If the plan materializes, then needless to add, both technology accessibilty at low costs and education will see a huge jump.