Aakash 4 low-cost tablet to be available by March-end at Rs. 3,999: Sibal

"Aakash 4 will be available in the market in one or one and a half months. It's a modern tablet and will be available for around Rs. 3,999," Sibal said here.

He added the Directorate General of Supplies and Disposals (DGSD) has already floated the tenders for the tablet.

The tablet comes with a 7-inch scratch-resistant capacitive touchscreen, 4GB inbuilt storage, microSD card slot with storage capacity up to 32GB, front camera, and connectivity options such as Wi-Fi, 2G, 3G and 4G.

The Aakash project was Sibal's brainchild when he was the HRD Minister. The idea was to provide low-cost computing device at subsidised rate to students to enable them access Internet for educational purposes.

He also said the government will soon move ahead on the proposal of merging state-run BSNL and MTNL.

The merger of the companies is part of DoT's plan for the revival of the public sector telecom units.

The government has already decided on pension issues plaguing both the public sector units along with refund for wireless broadband spectrum worth more than Rs. 11,000 crores to MTNL and BSNL.

Back in December 2013, Kapil Sibal, at the launch of the 'e-inclusion' project in New Delhi, said: "Aakash was my dream but it was not fulfilled, I tried hard some departments of my government did not support me despite that I continued to strive and then I brought the project in my ministry and now specifications for Aakash 4 have been completed.