“These are the two things that I think are really MeitY’s next goal, riding on the success of the large-scale electronics PLI (production-linked incentive), which is one of the most successful PLI programmes that the government of India has run in recent times,” he said. “The next one which is coming up in terms of electronic hardware, where there’s been a very enthusiastic response from a large number of companies and is taking off quite well.”
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He said that despite the success of those two PLIs, MeitY is working towards what is embodied in the tablet launched by the EPIC Foundation, wherein the design and the IP belong to India and more components are manufactured in India.
The tablet is designed by VVDN Technologies in collaboration with MediaTek India and CoRover.ai and comes embedded with features of repairability and upgradability to address the concerns of the digital divide and the accumulation of electronic refuse in India, said the not-for-profit EPIC Foundation.
“We want to build products in such a way that the components are easily replaceable and upgradable,” said Ajai Chowdhry, chairman, EPIC Foundation. “Repair expenses surpassing the cost of purchasing a new device, the production of substandard goods and obsolescence strategies are not only pressing concerns of today but also exacerbate the escalating problem of electronic waste. Our repairable product will enable many jobs all over India for repair engineers.”
EPIC Foundation executed a memorandum of understanding (MoU)with VVDN Technologies and UTL to authorise UTL to manufacture PC tablets under licence from the two entities for supply to state governments.
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“We have signed an MoU to manufacture it under licence from EPIC and VVDN,” said UTL chairman P Raja Mohan Rao. “There are very large state government tenders for such tablets which we are planning to participate in. If all goes well, we intend to manufacture two to three lakhs pieces per year.”The tablet also comes integrated with the BharatGPT virtual assistant and will highlight AI/ML based inter-lingual translation for Indian languages.
“With features like repairability, upgradability and integration of India-made BharatGPT powered Conversational AI platform and various AI apps, this tablet is not just a device; it’s a catalyst for a transformative educational experience,” said Ankush Sabharwal, co-founder of CoRover.ai and BharatGPT.
An MoU for 12,000 tablets was also inked between IRIS Global and Vedavaag Systems, a publicly listed financial inclusion company operating 6,000 citizen service centres for public sector banks across India to provide basic services in remote areas.
