Majority of states opt for SWAN through PPP

R Jai Krishna

NEW DELHI, INDIA: Majority of state governments have opted for rolling-out the State-Wide Area Network (SWAN) – the major backbone for e-governance in India, through the public-private partnership (PPP) mode.

According to a report on SWAN implementation status released by the Department of Information Technology under the government of India, 24 states in the country have opted for the PPP mode. These states include Jharkhand, Kerala, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, West Bengal, Punjab, Bihar, Maharashtra, Uttarkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan, Chattisgarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Andhra Pradesh and Daman & Diu. Even the North-eastern states of Nagaland, Meghalaya, Assam, Mizoram, and Arunachal Pradesh have joined the bandwagon.

However, Chandigarh, Delhi, Sikkim, Pondicherry, Jammu and Kashmir, and Lakshadweep have opted for the SWAN model as suggested by the National Informatics Centre (NIC).

Though the government of Andhra Pradesh has been asked to submit a revised proposal for the implementation, Andaman and Nicobar Island and Goa are not inclined for SWAN.

The document states that 12 states are in the advanced stages of implementation, while another five are progressing well. Financial bids have been received and is being progressed for two states, and also progress had been made in the technical evaluation of Madhya Pradesh.

The Request-for-Proposals of Orissa and Rajasthan have been approved, while those of Chattisgarh, Mizoram, Nagaland, Meghalaya and Pondicherry are under finalization and review.

Proposals from three states are being reviewed while another three states are in the process of preparing their proposals.

The state governments are expected to have their SWAN in place before September 2008, though some states will be completing the project only in March 2009, as these are in the early stages of planning.