Bengaluru: The Karnataka government Tuesday unveiled what it called “India’s first AI-powered affordable personal computer” which costs Rs 18,999. The government made the announcement at the inaugural ceremony of the Bengaluru Tech Summit (BTS).
Loaded with learning, programming and productivity tools, the small black coloured box-shaped device, called KEO, is built on an open-source RISC-V processor with a Linux-based operating system. It offers 4G, Wi-Fi and Ethernet connectivity, along with USB-A and USB-C ports, HDMI, and audio jack support.
KEO includes an on-device AI core, enabling AI to run locally without Internet access, the government said.
“KEO is Karnataka’s practical answer to the digital divide. It reflects the state’s commitment to inclusive innovation and accessible computing. It is not a luxury device; but an inclusion device. Affordable mass computing will allow every student, every small business and every household to participate fully in the digital economy,” Karnataka’s Minister for Information Technology & Biotechnology (IT/BT) Priyank Kharge said Tuesday.
He added that this product would help the state strengthen its position as the “nerve center of India’s semi-conductor and AI ecosystem”.
KEO will be deployed across schools, universities, small businesses, government offices and homes, creating direct pathways for digital learning, skilling and entrepreneurship, Kharge said.
The state’s department of Information Technology and Biotechnology (IT/BT) said KEO, which stands for knowledge-driven, economical and open source, will help democratise computing, covering a diverse range of people, including students across Karnataka.
The product was designed, developed and assembled by the Department of Electronics, IT & BT, Government of Karnataka, in collaboration with KEONICS, semiconductor design companies, startups and others.
Kharge said that the product would compete with other private players in the market and has not been built to be procured only by the government for distribution.
There have been similar attempts in the past with big announcements to make computing devices more affordable. In 2013, the Akash tablet of the Union Ministry of Human Development (since renamed as Education Ministry) was one such example which promised to develop low-cost computing devices at just about Rs 2,300. But the project failed to take off.
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‘Deep tech decade’
Kharge said that KEO was originally built as low-cost but had to make it “affordable” due to geopolitical reasons. He said that the standoff between the USA and China over rare earth materials has driven the prices up.
However, the prices will come down when the geopolitical conditions over rare earth materials stabilise, he said.
“When we started, it was a low-cost project. But now it’s affordable. The problem is geopolitics. The USA and China’s stand on rare earth minerals is what’s pushed the prices of chips,” he said.
KEONICS Chairman Sharath Kumar Bache Gowda said the prices of memory and RAM had shot up in recent times, driving up the cost to make computers and other devices.
Gowda said the product has been designed, developed and built in Karnataka by a Bengaluru-based fabless manufacturer.
The government is trying to find a suitable location to manufacture the chips in Karnataka itself, we need attribution here.
At the BTS inauguration event, the government also formally launched the Karnataka Information Technology Policy 2025–2030, the SpaceTech Policy 2025-2030, and the Startup Policy 2025-2030.
“For the first time the government is partnering with private venture capitalists (VC) and coming together for the ‘deep tech decade’ for which we have announced Rs 663-crore funding,” Kharge said.
He said VCs will invest around an additional Rs 430 crores towards this initiative, taking the total to Rs 1,100 crore.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah added that Karnataka is India’s largest R&D and product development hub. “We contribute 42 percent of India’s IT exports, valued at over Rs 3.2 lakh-crore, growing at a rapid 27 percent year-on-year. The state hosts more than 550 Global Capability Centres (GCCs) which is nearly one-third of India’s total. Over 400 of the Fortune 500 companies have operations in Bengaluru,” he said, during the inauguration.
The BTS, themed “Futurise: To shape the unknown, scale the unimaginable and shift the world forward”, is an annual flagship event in Karnataka. During the three-day event, more than 600 global speakers, over 1,200 exhibitors from over 60 countries delegations, and thousands of innovators are expected to take part.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)
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