IIT Bombay’s killer invention: A $100 Netbook!

‘Make in India’ has already received full house applause from the manufacturing quarters of technology, automobile and many other sectors. But now IIT Bombay is taking this to a next great level.

Having developed a netbook computer at $100 (Rs 6,647, the team at IIT Bombay is now planning to go commercial with it. Termed to be the world’s cheapest, the team is in talks with several colleges across the country, including Christ University in Bengaluru, to roll out the devices for students.

This netbook, which was conceptualised during IIT's work with the low-cost Aakash tablet project and was launched in February, is currently being used by about 90 students at IIT Bombay and plans are underway to get more college students across the country to use the machines, said IIT Bombay professor Kannan Moudgalya.
These netbooks with 10 inch screen are being loaned out to the students for a year at the cost of Rs 5,000, were built primarily for students from low-income households who cannot afford costlier laptops.

"I believe that if you're serious about Digital India, we need to give computers to our children," Professor Kannan Moudgalya told The Economic Times.

"Now if IIT students have difficulty in programming without a computer, you can imagine how it is in other colleges... now if college students don't have computers, they don't do programming. They don't do programming, they start mugging up since they have to pass their exams. So, if Digital India has to work, students will need computers."

The team has now started working with open-source language startups such as Julia Computing and is also using Brazilian chemical process simulator DWSIM as part of this project, said Moudgalya said.

While almost 1 lakh devices were commissioned for the Aakash project, only 1,000 machines have been ordered so far for the new netbook project.

For pilot, IIT Bombay has teamed up with Delhibased Basic Comtech.