launched Aakash to be sold for $60 World's cheapest tablet in India

Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal displayed the prototype of $35 basic touch screen tablet (AP))

India trails fellow BRIC nations Brazil, Russia and China in the drive to get its 1.2 billion population connected to technologies such as the Internet and mobile phones, a report by risk analysis firm Maplecroft said this year

Developed as part of the National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology (ICT), the tablet computer is designed in India as a low cost but full functioning device.

It aims to link 25,000 colleges and 400 universities through e-learning programme.

The tablet with sport a 7” colour LCD/TFT display and run on Google's Android platform.

It with have WiFi connectivity for internet access and cloud storage, 256 MB of RAM, a 2GB SD memory card and a 32 GB expandable memory slot.

Some 19 million people subscribe to mobile phones every month, making India the world's fastest growing market, but most are from the wealthier segment of the population in towns.

Bharat Mehra, an expert on the use of communications technology for development, said the budget tablet could be used to deliver distance learning in rural areas and among students.