US varsity unit exits "Sankhya Vahini" project

NEW DELHI: A unit of America's Carnegie Mellon University has pulled out of a

venture to build a high-speed data network in India due to project delays, a

Federal minister said on Friday. The unit, IUNet, in collaboration with Indian

state-owned telecoms giant Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL), was to build the

high bandwidth "Sankhya Vahini" (Digital Carrier) network, initially

linking 15 cities at a cost of Rs 10 billion.

"Yesterday, they (IUNet) informed the Prime Minister and the Department

of Telecommunications that they have withdrawn from the venture," Pramod

Mahajan, minister for Information Technology and Communications, told a news

conference. But Mahajan said the withdrawal would not halt the project and BSNL

will implement it on its own or with another partner. "Our commitment to

provide bandwidth stands," Mahajan said.

The minister admitted that the project, which received government approval in

January 2000, had been delayed by the decision to turn the virtually nationwide

provider of fixed-line phone service into a company. That was done in October

2000. IUNet was expected to hold 49 per cent and BSNL and other Indian

technology institutions the other 51 per cent of the venture, which was to

provide 2.5 to 40 gigabit per second connectivity across the country.