| The Gyan Ganga project is for setting up information kiosks with Internet connectivity in all villages. State chief minister, Narendra Modi, inaugurated the project recently at Vadanagar in Mehsana district. |
| Under the agreement signed between n-Logue and the state-run Gujarat Informatics Ltd, 16 projects will be set up across the state. |
| The 16 projects will cover 2,500 villages in the current financial year and as many as 18,000 villages will be covered under the Gyan Ganga project, which aims to create employment opportunities for village entrepreneurs and build grassroot knowledge societies. |
| The Gyan Ganga project deploys the corDECT technology, which uses Wireless in Local Loop (WLL) to connect all villages in a radius of 25 km. Joe Jacob, head, Gujarat circle of n-Logue, said that the company will set up information kiosks in villages. |
| These will be equipped with a multimedia PC, digital web camera, battery back-up, printer, local language software, video conferencing software and other devices. "While an entrepreneur invests Rs 10,000, n-Logue will provide assistance in securing a loan of Rs 50,000," he said. |
| n-Logue has also tied up with ICICI Bank and IIT-Madras in developing low cost ATMs that can be installed in rural areas. A prototype of a low cost ATM designed for the rural areas is ready, Jacob said. |
| He added that the ATM will cost around Rs 60,000 compared with the regular ATM which costs around Rs 8 lakh. |
| It will dispense just one single currency note of any denomination. |
| Though the low cost ATMs will not have all the functions of a regular ATM, it will allow the withdrawal of money as the ATM will be connected to an Internet kiosk. |
| "We do have a tie-up with ICICI Bank in the project. But it is too early to state whether these ATMs will be just for ICICI Bank. The commercial launch will, however, be in less than one year from now," Jacob said. |
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