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| HOME | INFOTECH | HEADLINES | |||
| December 9, 1997 |
The Seer HunterTo make the transition from electricity to telecom, the
India's premier policy on the Internet service provider business has allowed the railways and the power grid people to lease out their excess telecommunication capacities and join in the effort to create a 'national information infrastructure'.
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PGCIL is working on a plan to appoint a competent consultant who would advise on the methodology and other aspects so as to facilitate the corporation in entering the new sector, the corporation said.
Armed with the advice of the consultant, PGCIL would approach the Department of Telecommunication with a well-framed document later, sources said.
PGCIL officials say they may seek help from Kema ECC, the US company with which they are, at present, working on load dispatch projects. They hope Kema ECC will be able to arrange for a telecommunications consultant.
Domestically, PGCIL is counting on the Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India, which has a group specialising in telecom and has already worked with the Department of Telecommunications on such projects successfully, the sources said.
PGCIL intends to mobilise funds through borrowings from financial institutions, securitising the company's assets and goodwill.
The corporation says it initially plans to take up the project with an investment of about Rs 10-15 billion. According to its estimates, PGCIL intends to get back the amount spent in three years.
The public-sector utility company wants to give the project on lease to any operator including private players. A competitive bidding process may be used to select eligible operators is.
PGCIL has ambitious plans and its diversification strategy into telecommunications would provide a strong impetus to the corporation in taking up new power projects, the sources claimed.