Homegrown wire, cable, and electrical gear maker Polycab has won two contracts, cumulatively valued at Rs 5,649.36 crore (inclusive of GST), from government-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) for the deployment of a middle-mile network for Bharat Net under various packages.
” Polycab India Limited emerges as the Lowest Bidder (L1) from Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) for “development (creation, upgradation and operation and maintenance) of middle mile network of BharatNet on Design Build Operate and Maintain (DBOM) Model” – Package 4 (Karnataka, Goa and Puducherry),” Polycab said in a regulatory filing.
The value of this contract is approximately Rs 4,099 crore, as per the filing. The contract comprises three years for construction and 10 years of maintenance at 5.5% per annum of capital expenditure (capex) for the first five years and at 6.5% of the capex for the next five years. Polycab India Limited once again emerges as the Lowest Bidder (L1) from Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) for “development (creation, upgradation and operation and maintenance) of middle-mile network of Bharat Net on Design Build Operate and Maintain (DBOM) Model” for package 7 (Bihar) amounting Rs 1549,66,31,902.36,” the company said in a separate regulatory filing.
RVNL is the lead partner. However, the financial share/breakup of the contract among the consortium partners has yet to be decided. On August 7 this year that the Telecommunications Consultants of India Limited (TCIL), ITI Limited, indigenous optical fiber cable (OFC) makers HFCL, Polycab, and Pratap Technocrats, are among the bidders for the third phase for the third phase of the Centre’s ambitious Bharat Net program.
Indigenous OFC makers Polycab, and HFCL presented solo bids while as many as 18 bidders, including G R Infraprojects, Vindhya Telelinks, Pace Digitek Infra Private Limited, Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL), Bharat Electronics Limited, Megha Engineering, and others, took the consortium route. A total of 21 bidders put in their bids under the BharatNet 3 program for Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh (East), Uttar Pradesh (West), Karnataka, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, West Bengal, Jammu & Kashmir, North East Region – I and North East Region – II, and others.
In early 2024, the Centre rolled out the BharatNet III program with an outlay of Rs 65,000-crore. The last date to submit bids was August 6, 2024.
The tender is part of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government’s Rs 1.39 lakh crore BharatNet program which aims to provide last-mile broadband connectivity, and upgrade the existing 164,000 gram panchayats, as well as, connect 47,000 gram panchayats under the new model.
