India has unveiled on 23 July a US$35 touchscreen computer for students, the world’s cheapest laptop.

It’s only a prototype for now, but the laptop is slated to be part of the nation’s program to provide connectivity to its students and teachers. Among the laptop’s features are a PDF reader, an internet browser, and a video conferencing function.

The Linux-based computer was presented by Kapil Sibal, the country’s human resource development minister, who said he expects the US$35 pricetag to fall to US$10 by 2011, reports Reuters.

“We have reached a stage that today, the motherboard, its chip, the processing, connectivity, all of them cumulatively cost around US$35, including memory, display, everything,” he was quoted as saying in the report.

The iPad-lookalike was developed by research teams at the Indian Institute of Technology and the Indian Institute of Science, two of India’s premier technology institutes.

A human resources ministry spokesperson said the ministry is expected to tender out contracts to private companies for mass production of its prototype, according to a CNN report.

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