Page 84 - DMGT302_FUNDAMENTALS_OF_PROJECT_MANAGEMENT

Unit 4: Project Budgeting

Notes
“Our goal was to break the price barrier for computing and Internet access. Working with IIT
Rajasthan, and NME-ICT, we have created a product that will finally bring affordable computing and
Internet access to the masses.”
– Suneet Singh Tuli (Tuli), President & CEO, Datawind Ltd., November 2011

“It will be a cool gadget that pushes boundaries in computing, and leaves education as moribund as
before...While I agree that Suneet Singh Tuli’s business plan of selling tablets directly to consumers
based on clear market advantages is more sound than Nicholas Negroponte’s idea of selling millions
of laptop to governments based on a handshake with presidents, I do not see a better education plan.
In fact, I see none.”
– Wayan Vota, Senior Director, Inveneo, December 2011
On October 5, 2011, the Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD), Government
of India, launched the much awaited ultra low cost tablet ‘Aakash’. The Made in India
Aakash tablet would be available in the retail market at a fraction of the price of Apple’s
iPad, the popular tablet from Apple Inc. The Government of India was buying this device

from Datawind Limited (Datawind) for US$ 50 and providing it to students at a subsidized
price of US$ 35. The tablet was also to be made available at retail stores with some extra
features at a maximum price of US$ 60. On the successful launch of the Aakash tablet,
Kapil Sibal (Sibal), Telecom and Human Resource Development Minister, Government of
India, said, “The rich have access to the digital world, the poor and ordinary have been
excluded Aakash will end that digital divide.”
An industry observer noted that the launch of a low cost tablet was very important,
especially in a country like India where there was a lack of proper education at all the
levels and poverty was rampant. Kit Eaton wrote in his article published at
FastCompany.com, “It’s of course admirable that the Indian government and technology
companies wanted to develop their own low-cost educational machine. After all, this is a
country that has orbital satellite launching capability where simultaneously 85% of the
population was living on less than US$ 2.50 per day (in 2005 at least.) And trying to
improve the education of so many impoverished children is a wonderful goal.”
Some industry observers were rather skeptical about Aakash’s capability to transform
education in India. Satish Jha (Jha), President and CEO, One Laptop Per Child (OLPC),
India project wrote in his article published in Economics Times , “It is unlikely Aakash
will address the key demands of India’s education. It is designed to be an access device that
can be used by someone already educated enough to use it. But 95% children of India need
to get to a point where they can begin learning.”
Some analysts claimed that the tablet would not only have a positive impact on the education
sector but would also lead to positive changes in the healthcare and other sectors besides
improving internet penetration in the country. In his study, Rajat Kathuria (Kathuria),
External Consultant at Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations
(ICRIER), stated that the Indian economy could grow 10.08% faster with every 10%increase

in the internet and broadband connections in the country. All this would become possible
by the National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology
(NME-ICT) under which the Aakash tablet had been developed to provide education to a
vast majority of learners with ease, as and when they demanded it.

National Mission on Education Through Information and Communication Technology
(NME-ICT)
NME-ICT was one of ambitious missions of the Ministry of Human Resources Development
(MHRD), Government of India. The Mission document stated, “For India to emerge as a
Contd...

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