Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin. File | Photo credit: The Hindu
Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu Limited (ELCOT) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Perplexity AI to provide college students in Tamil Nadu with training in Perplexity Pro AI for six months free of charge, Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin said on Thursday, December 18, 2025.
In a statement, the Deputy Chief Minister rejected AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami’s criticism of the distribution of laptops to students in the middle of the academic year. Mr. Udhayanidhi Stalin said that the announcement about the distribution of laptops was made in the budget session.
Once the students return after the Christmas and New Year holidays, the laptops will be distributed to them gradually in all districts, the Deputy Minister said. 10 million laptops will be distributed to students by February.
The Deputy Chief Minister claimed that the AIADMK leader was against the distribution of laptops to students and further charged, “Mr. Palaniswami has consistently expressed the fascist BJP’s intention to deprive the students of Tamil Nadu of education and development.”
Udhayanidhi Stalin charged that Mr. Palaniswami was trying to prevent the distribution of the laptops and said that his government would definitely distribute the laptops and that neither Mr. Palaniswami nor “his owners from Delhi” could prevent the distribution.
The government intended to distribute laptops to students with software that could be used by engineers, Mr. Udhayanidhi Stalin said, adding that ELCOT had signed an MoU with Microsoft in this regard.
During an event in Chennai, the Deputy Chief Minister inaugurated an exhibition organized by the Tamil Nadu Corporation for Development of Women involving women’s self-help groups at Nungambakkam in Chennai.
Published – 18 Dec 2025 20:28 IST
