Can you believe it? We know it’s hard to believe a laptop retailing for $35 or anything less even if it’s just meant to be a basic computer. Let alone a laptop or a tablet computer, not even a black and white e-Reader can be available at that price. Even most of the basic accessories that we buy for smartphone’s these days cost more than $30!

In such a market situation, the Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister, Kapil Sibal, announced that the Indian government is already working on a $35 laptop which would  be made available for students nationwide, once it is launched in 2011.

Initially, these laptops for students will be sold at $35 (or approximately 1500INR) through various educational institutions across the states sprawling the country. However, the government plans to subsidize the price to $20 later on, and will ultimately sell it for $10-a-piece.

These  low cost Indian laptops are unnamed as of yet, and its motherboard is reported to be designed by a student at VIT following which the PCB was finalized at MIT. A prototype of the device was highlighted during the official announcement made by the HRD.

The $10 laptop features a touchscreen color display, integrated web browser that also supports Youtube video playback, a USB port, Wii-Fi connectivity, 2GB memory and presumably the flavor-of-the-season Android OS.

Other speculated features include a built-in PDF readers that will enable students to read e-books – a most sought replacement for traditional paper books. Also, an open source document editor like Open Office, Remote device management capability and multimedia input-out interface options.

About 8,500 colleges are expected to sign up for the first phase of roll-out. Reportedly, the Manipur Government has already announced its order of 75,000 low cost laptops that it hopes to provide each student of its state. A lot of other states are expected to follow the trail once the laptop becomes commonly available in the market.

The $35 tablet for students is certainly a breakthrough idea, but let’s just hope it does not get shelved or falls before the flight just when we are cherishing the hopes of seeing a much brighter and technology-savoring India.

We’ll keep you posted as more details surface. Stay tuned.

Meanwhile, watch the following video to see the device in action.