IBM Global Services India Pvt Ltd is mulling to introduce personal computers (PCs) in the sub-Rs 10,000 category, said Satish Kaushal, country manager government.
Speaking on the sidelines of the national convention on e-governance, organised by the Grameen Sanchar Society (Grasso), Kaushal said, "The company is seriously looking at tapping the sub-Rs 10,000 range. The move will help achieve Union communication and information technology minister, T D Maran's national target of making PCs affordable. All the major companies in the segment are working very seriously on the same lines and so are we."
However, Kaushal could not give a timeframe within which IBM, now under the Lenovo umbrella, would enter sub-Rs 10,000 PC segment. Kaushal said that the price of PCs in India was significantly higher compared to developed countries.
He pointed out that the prevailing price of PCs in India was much higher than the disposable income of an individual and this made it unaffordable.
In contrast, in the developed countries, the higher disposable income made purchase of PCs much more affordable. A number of regional PC manufacturers recently launched PCs in the sub-Rs 10,000 segment, followed by national players like HCL Infosystems.
Referring to a global study done by IBM, Kaushal said that India lagged behind many other countries in terms of 'e-Readiness'.The calculation was based on 60 parameters and showed that India was trailing behind 45 countries and the scenario had worsened over the past year.
Kaushal said, during 2004-05, the government had spent around Rs 5,000 crore (Rs 50 billion) in the e-governance space but there had not been any significant achievement in the area.
"Over the last five years, more than 1,400 pilot projects were undertaken, out of which less than 10 projects achieved the status of national project. There should be an improvement in connectivity and technology infrastructure in the rural areas to yield positive results," he noted.
