W Bengal to tender for $53 m. IT backbone

Sumali Moitra

CALCUTTA: India's eastern state of West Bengal will float a global tender next month to select a private partner for a Rs 2.5 billion ($53 million) optical fiber cable network, a government official said on Thursday.

The project will be implemented in collaboration with the state's power utility, the West Bengal State Electricity Board, whose network of transmission towers will be used to connect district headquarters and industrial centers.

"The tender for the 2,560-km (1,600-mile) communication backbone should be out by the end of next month," ICICI-West Bengal Infrastructure Development Corporation (I-Win) managing director D Sengupta told Reuters.

He said details of the tender had not been finalized yet but added there would be two main criteria for selection.

"A firm that offers maximum value for the right of way and has the ability to complete the major part of the project in three years definitely starts with an advantage," he said.

The right of way refers to the use of the state utility's network, he explained.

He said the government was keen to connect 15 per cent of the state's 70 million population within five years with the help of the proposed backbone.

This could help spread the use of information technology beyond Calcutta, the state capital.

"The venture will improve the quality of service to the public and promote the IT culture by connecting all the district headquarters with centers of learning and industrial growth centers," he said.

The establishment of an IT highway is part of West Bengal's aim to be a key player in knowledge-based industries in India, currently dominated by the southern states of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

The ruling communist government of the state has allocated Rs 400 million ($8.5 million) for the venture in West Bengal's budget for 2000-01 (April-March).

(C) Reuters Limited 2000.