BharatNet- Tejas, TCS seek fair shot

BharatNet: Tejas, TCS seek fair shot

As BSNL readies to float tenders for the revamped Rupees 1.4 trillion BharatNet project, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Tejas Networks and smaller domestic players have demanded equitable treatment with foreign counterparts like Ericsson and Nokia, according to officials in the know.

These companies, through their association, Voice of Indian Communication Technology Enterprises (VoICE), have urged the department of telecommunications (DoT) that the process should not have conditions that bar domestic players from participating in the tenders to supply telecom equipment under the BharatNet project, officials said.

One of the concerns raised by local players in previous government tenders is the eligibility condition that companies should have supplied a minimum quantity of equipment earlier. Local firms lose to larger players on this parameter, and thus are not considered in the fresh tender process.

“On one hand, the government talks about Make in India and pushing domestic players. On the other hand, various departments put conditions such as turnover threshold, experience with earlier supply of large quantities in the tenders. These conditions make participation of local players difficult,” an executive at a local firm said.Recently, despite successful quality checks and trusted source certifications, bids of some local players were rejected in a few government tenders for supplying telecom equipment, sources said.

There was also controversy over BSNL awarding a Rupees 1,000 crore tender for supply of optical transport network (OTN) equipment to Nokia by leaving out local players in the tender process. BSNL had said it strictly followed the government guidelines in reference to the Make in India procurement policy for the tender process, whereas local players alleged that they were ruled out on grounds of lacking trusted source approval requirement and absence of bank guarantee.

For the BharatNet tenders, therefore, these players have urged the government to keep the competition on pricing. Also, the government should reserve a portion of supplies for local players to boost its vision of ‘Atmanirbharta’, an industry executive said.

BSNL, which is the single project management agency of BharatNet, is soon expected to roll out tenders, based on which it will select companies to lay fibre, as well as operate and maintain sites connected under the project. The company is targeting to offer works and start implementation of the project by March and April, respectively.

Under the revamped Rupees 1.4 trillion BharatNet project, the government is expected to use high-speed satellite connectivity technology as well as fixed wireless access (FWA) to connect rural areas, along with fiber connectivity.

The target is to upgrade the existing 164,000 gram panchayats connected under BharatNet phase I and phase II projects, as well as connect around 47,000 gram panchayats under the new model. The revamped project involves a three-level architecture — internet leased line bandwidth to be provided by BSNL at 7,269 blocks; middle-mile connectivity (block to gram panchayat) that will involve private players to operate and maintain the project for 10 years; and last-mile connectivity (village to household) which is the Udyami model.

In August 2023, the Union Cabinet had approved the third such package of Rupees 1.39 trillion for BharatNet, taking the total allocation to over Rupees 2 trillion so far. In 2017, the Cabinet approved funding of Rupees 42,068 crore for the BharatNet (Phase-I and Phase-II) projects. In 2021, the Cabinet allocated another Rupees 19,041 crore to implement the project under the public-private partnership mode, which, however, failed to attract the interest of the private players.