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IIT develops cheaper ATM

By P. Sunderarajan

CHANDIGARH JAN. 3. In a breakthrough, scientists at Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai, have developed an ATM (automated teller machine) that costs just about Rs. 40,000 against the ones available now that cost about Rs. 9 lakhs.

Disclosing this at the plenary session of the Indian Science Congress, now on here, Ashok Jhunjhunwala, a member of the telecom research team at IIT, Chennai, said that as a first step, prototypes would be installed in select villages in Tamil Nadu next month.

The ATMs, dispensing small denomination notes, would be connected to a kiosk with an internet line, Dr. Jhunjhunwala said.

The ATMs would have web cameras and using finger-prints to identify the customers. The IIT team would soon file for patents for the technology. The IIT had set up a small company that would commercialise the technology, he said.

Apart from the rural ATM, Dr. Jhunjhunwala also plans to launch a satellite-based rural connectivity programme within the next four months in collaboration with the Indian Space Research Organisation. Called Sparse Area communication, the technology will involve satellites to provide telephone and internet connectivity to villages within a 50-km radius.

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