30th April 2012
Manjari Mishra, TNN Apr 30, 2012, 06.03AM IST
LUCKNOW: The Indian Telephone Industry in Rae Bareli is all set to get a fresh lease of life, as the Union ministry of human resources and development has shortlisted it as one of the manufacturing units for its ambitious Aakash, the project to provide subsidised tablet PC to students.
Hopes were raised when the Union HRD minister Kapil Sibal publicly announced his preference for a "fully indigenous and truly an Indian product" last year to achieve the goal of merging education with information technology.
With Datawind already on way out, the ministry didn't have to scout for long apparently to identify the right agency. Datawind had earlier bagged the contract to supplying the low-cost tablet to the government. ITI Rae Bareli, apart from its link with the bastion of Gandhi family, also had its share of laurels to rest on. Till the entry of multinationals, ITI retained its monopoly in the manufacturing of telephone exchanges, and therefore fits the bill.
However, passage of time brought down the work orders. And now nearly 90% of the plant and the working hands lie idle. To raise resources, the administration has been forced to lease out its land and buildings to government institutes like National Institute of Fashion Technology and National Institute of Pharmacological Education and Research. The possibility of Aakash coming its way has also energised the set-up.
Though reluctant to share the specific details, officials in the unit admit that ITI Rae Bareli will be getting a major chunk of the supply order, once the project takes off. "Communication has already reached from Delhi and there are hectic activities on campus to get things in order, before we get the final go ahead," sources told TOI.
General manager ITI Rakesh Purvar when contacted said that the plant is very much in the loop. Purvar was part of the expert team, which had a meeting with Sibal last November when the minister gave his nod. Sounding a bit guarded, the GM said that ITI Rae Bareli had the biggest workforce of 3,500 employees among all the six plants across the country. "We have the numbers and expertise both to handle much more complex things than Aakash. In the past, the unit had successfully completed its mobile telephony project and tablet PC in comparison seems to be a child's play," he said.
Meanwhile, sources claimed that a note for infrastructural expansion has already been forwarded to the Centre by the branch. "The volume under the 12{+t}{+h} Five Year Plan is pegged at 2.2 crore tablets, so we are looking at big numbers. It will require installation of new machinery and a bit of overhaul. In fact a section in the government favours making ITI a procurement agency and turn it into manufacturing unit subsequently but it has not found much currency," said a senior official.
And even though Rae Bareli will bag the lion's share of orders, all six ITI plants, another official says, may be required to work in synergy to execute the project.
