Mumbai, August 29:

Imagine a lightweight laptop for just Rs 15,000 Indian Currency (IC)! An entrepreneur is working on a project to develop just such a computer that is expected to hit the showrooms by the end of this financial year.

“I want to make the laptop available to the common man,” says Hirji Patel, the managing director of Mumbai-headquartered Allied Computers International (Asia) Ltd (ACi).

“The new laptop will be priced at Rs 15,000 IC a piece. It will weigh less than a kg and will be much smaller than the conventional laptop currently available in India,” says Patel, an expert in software and hardware development.

“Gadgets like laptops and notebooks should be within the reach of the ordinary man,” Patel said. Patel specialises in avionics and has in the past worked with missile scientists from the R&D section of the Guidance Weapon Division of GEC Avionics and British Aerospace plc.

His Rs 15,000 IC laptop might sound unbelievable at this stage but, going by his record of Patel, it may not be a tall claim. He set up ACi in 2002 and introduced the Rs 30,000 IC laptop in India in 2004 and thereafter a Rs 20,000 IC laptop in 2005.

“Within this year, we plan to enhance our production capacity from the present 10,000 units to 100,000 units per annum. We will expand our current infrastructure facilities in places like Vasai (in Maharashtra’s Thane district) and Gandhinagar (in Gujarat) to support our production,” he said.

“We also have plans to install equipment and assembly line,” said Patel, adding that a sales and service centre would also be set up in Vasai. He also plans to shortly launch a state-of-the-art unit in Gandhinagar for speedy and effective repair of branded laptops received from the international market.