The development of the Aakash tablet has been riddled with controversies since its inception, with the recent most being the speculation that Datawind will not be the supplier for future orders of the Aakash tablet. Datawind has come forth to squash any such rumors and released a statement, not only asserting their status as the sole supplier, but also confirming that they will be supplying the next tender of 50 lakh tablets.
The statement in full:
Putting all the speculations to rest about Datawind's status in the current order and future tenders of the Ministry of HRD, the Minister of HRD Mr Kapil Sibal today has said that Datawind will continue to supply the Aakash tablet and future enhancements as per the current order.
Ministry will involve C -DAC and ITI to procure for the future requirements. Clarifying this Mr NK Sinha, Dy Secy in the Ministry said that since the Govt do not have enough capacities, they will have to involve other players.
Next tender will be for 50 lakh tablets.
"This vindicates our point that Datawind continues to be a serious player in the supply of Aakash both for the present order of the Ministry of HRD and also future course", said Suneet Singh Tuli, CEO of Datawind.
"We never had any doubts about our position in the first place. With today's announcement by the Ministry, the same has been cleared to all those who were speculating", he further added.