CHENNAI: With the free laptop distribution likely to begin in the first week of January 2026, the government has begun identifying beneficiaries across around 4,600 arts, science, engineering, agriculture and medical colleges.
The Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu (ELCOT) has floated an international tender to procure 20 lakh laptops, and the state government will be allocating Rs 2,000 crore for the same.
The three multinational companies -- Acer, Dell and HP, identified in the tender would supply laptop computers featuring a 15inch display, Intel i3 or AMD Ryzen 3 processor, 8 to 12 GB RAM, and a 256 GB hard disk.
These laptops will also come with built-in educational tools and essential software.
A senior official from the Higher Education Department, seeking anonymity, said that during the first phase of the scheme, ten laptop computers will be procured from the selected organisations.
“Students from around 4,600 government arts, science, engineering, agriculture and medical colleges across the State are expected to benefit from the scheme,” he said, adding, “the laptop computers procured during the first phase will be distributed to the third year students”.
Concerning the arrival of the laptop consignment, the official noted that each batch of systems after arrival will undergo random quality tests by an expert committee comprising faculty members from Anna University and IIT, along with officials from the National Informatics Centre.
Pointing out that all government college principals were instructed to identify beneficiaries, he said the details of students submitted by the institution heads will be thoroughly scrutinised to ensure the scheme reaches all the beneficiaries without fail.
“There will be a proper Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system to track delivery schedules, vendor details, supply numbers, and stock for the smooth implementation of the scheme,” the official added.
The official cautioned that students and parents should be aware of false announcements regarding online registration for free laptops circulating on social media. “There is no such arrangement made by the authorities to get the laptop computer,” the senior official noted.