With the Government of India deciding to distribute 50 lakh Akash tablets to the students, Union HRD minister Kapil Sibal is said to be mulling over the prospect of the Indian Telephone Industry in Rae Bareli to manufacture Aakash Tablets as Datawind alone may not be able to meet the heavy production.

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.

General manager ITI Rakesh Purvar said that the plant is very much in the loop. He 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,” he said.