NITI Aayog member raises concerns about tender doc barring Indian companies from project worth Rs 1,072 crore

VK Saraswat, a top scientist and NITI Aayog member, has raised concerns about a tender document for the strategic Kochi-Lakshadweep Islands (KLI) optic fibre project (worth Rs 1,072 crore) been deliberately designed to bar Indian companies. He said this could compromise security, cost-effectiveness and reliability of the project.

Saraswat told ToI in a letter that at a time when India is trying to build its capabilities in the telecommunications sector, there are no provisions in the Detailed Note for Inviting Tenders (DNIT) to facilitate/support the development of indigenous capabilities.

“It appears that the eligibility criteria mentioned in the DNIT are deliberately designed to bar Indian companies from participating in the said project,” the former DRDO chief said. “Since connectivity between the mainland and the Lakshadweep Islands is a matter of strategic and national importance, we need to ensure that the network being developed is robust, reliable, secure, indigenous and cost effective.”

Saraswat believes that BSNL should put the tender on hold till the necessary changes are made to promote participation by Indian companies. BSNL has been nominated as Project Execution Agency and Telecommunications Consultant India Ltd (TCIL) as the Technical Consultant of the project to assist USOF, DoT. The ownership of the project will lie with USOF, DoT which is likely to be completed by May 2023.

Earlier this year, industry bodies such as the Telecom Equipment Manufacturers Association (TEMA) and the PHD Chambers of Commerce had objected to BSNL’s decision of framing the tender on the lines of the Chennai-Andaman Nicobar Islands (CANI) Submarine Cable Project. The industry bodies contended that the experience of the parent company can be leveraged to bid for the project as the CANI project was won by a Japanese consortium led by NEC Technologies India (NECTI) with a single bid.

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The laying of submarine optical fibre between Kochi and Lakshadweep Islands (KLI) project envisages a direct communication link through a dedicated submarine optical fibre cable (OFC) between Kochi and 11 islands of Lakshadweep.