DataWind, the manufacturer of government of India-sponsored low-cost tablets Aakash, has said that the company manufactured the motherboard and kits of the first 10,000 units of Aakash 2 using the facilities of its subcontractors in China 'for expediency'.
In response to a newspaper article appeared today which said that Aakash 2 was completely manufactured in China, the Canadian company which has been mandated to supply these low-cost tablets on Saturday denied the report terming it 'inaccurate’ and 'misleading’. It said the company had taken the approval of the authorities prior to the shipping of these accessories from China while the final assembly and programming of those devices however were done in India.
“For the first 10k units for IIT, and for expediency sake we had the motherboards and kits manufactured in our Chinese subcontractor's facilities, and then the units have been 'kitted' in China at various manufacturers for expediency, whereas the final assembly and programming has happened in India. This was well discussed and we got approval prior to shipping,” Suneet Singh Tuli, CEO DataWind said in the statement.
The article appeared in the Hindustan Times, based on documents reviewed by the newspaper, has said that DataWind may have procured Aakash 2 devices off-the-shelf from manufacturers in China for $42 (Rs 2,263) per unit, exactly at the price which the company sold it to the Indian government.
In its response, DataWind said the circuit-boards for Aakash 1 as well as the Aakash 2 were built in Hyderabad. Besides, the Capacitive Touch Screen which is the most expensive element in Aakash 2 is being manufactured by the company at its Montreal facility which was shown to the visiting representatives of the IIT. The software and mechanical parts are also being developed by the company.
“We also have four partner manufacturers across India that will work on the deliveries to the government, but we just couldn't get them started to assemble our new Aakash2 units in time but they will start to ship early in December,” the statement said.
DataWind said the company is setting up its second touch screen facility in India which is presently going through pilot.
“We have been strong proponents of developing a manufacturing base in India, and our actions continue to reflect this,” the statement added.
