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Time of India
3 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Govt to roll out free laptops for college students by Oct
Chennai: Tamil Nadu will roll out the first batch of free laptops to college students by October, with three global companies Dell, HP, and Acer competing in the tender. While sources said one of these three firms quoted the lowest price of 23,000 per laptop, officials maintained the bidder will be known only after work orders are issued. K P Karthikeyan, managing director, ELCOT, said the bidding is in its final stages and the govt will likely roll out the distribution of laptops by Oct. "We will announce the lowest bidder soon once the work orders are issued," he said. The govt will distribute 10 lakh laptops in the first phase, and another 10 lakh later. The contractor will also have to set up district-wise maintenance centres and a web portal for students to raise grievances. The spare parts have to be shipped within a few days, and the status of complaints must be live on the portal. You Can Also Check: Chennai AQI | Weather in Chennai | Bank Holidays in Chennai | Public Holidays in Chennai | Gold Rates Today in Chennai | Silver Rates Today in Chennai The companies distributing the laptops will supply processors equal to or above Intel Core i3 or AMD Ryzen, with a minimum RAM of eight gigabytes. The laptops shall be 14 inches or 15.6 inches, and they must have at least one USB C-type port for fast file transfers. These laptops are more modern than the ones provided in the past, which came with dual-core processors and a 2GB RAM, unlike the ones now, which come with four-core processors with 8GB RAM, which can help students stream 4K videos and edit videos. The students will also get a free one-year subscription to Microsoft Office 365 Stay updated with the latest local news from your city on Times of India (TOI). Check upcoming bank holidays , public holidays , and current gold rates and silver prices in your area.
New Indian Express
07-07-2025
- Automotive
- New Indian Express
EB hikes rates, EV charging stations in Tamil Nadu feel the heat
CHENNAI: Electric vehicle charging operators in Tamil Nadu are bracing for higher electricity bills as the state's power regulator raised both energy and fixed charges under a revised tariff structure, effective July 1. The Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission (TNERC) has retained its time-of-day (ToD) model for EV charging — first introduced in 2023 — but increased rates across the board, triggering fresh concerns about the economics of public charging. Energy charges under the new structure now range from Rs 6.50 per kWh during solar hours (9am–4pm) to Rs 9.75 during peak hours (6am–9am and 6pm–10pm), up from Rs 9.45. Night charging (10 pm–6 am) is priced at `8.10, compared to Rs 7.85 earlier. More significantly, fixed charges for high-tension (HT) charging stations have more than doubled, from Rs 145 to Rs 304 per kVA per month. Unlike energy charges, these apply regardless of usage and are based on sanctioned load. For example, a 50kW fast-charging station will now pay Rs 2,750 in monthly fixed charges, up from Rs 1,300 (excluding electricity tax). 'Our average cost of power was around Rs 9 to Rs 9.50 per kWh before July. Following the tariff revision, it has gone up by Rs 2.50 per unit — a 20% increase in our power cost,' said K P Karthikeyan, director of Indian Charge Point Operators Association. 'This is a fixed cost, and while the impact could taper as utilisation improves, public charging stations typically operate at just 5-6% utilisation, and rarely exceed 10%. Even in the best-case scenario, utilisation levels may not cross 15-16%. So, at current usage levels, the hike effectively translates to a 20% cost escalation.'
