RailTel bags work order for telecom infrastructure from Pimpri Chinchwad Smart City Limited for 10 years

New Delhi [India], August 11 : RailTel, a Mini Ratna PSU under the Ministry of Railways, received a work order from Pimpri Chinchwad Smart City Limited (PCSCL) for providing end to end services for monetisation of PCSCL City Network Infrastructure on “revenue sharing model” for 10 years.
It is the first of its kind order bagged by RailTel to monetise the telecom infrastructure of a Smart City. Pimpri Chinchwad city is in the Pune area and is the eighteenth most populous city in India and the fifth-largest in the state of Maharashtra. During monetization, RailTel will generate revenue through leasing arrangements.
As per the official statement of RailTel, the projected estimated annual revenue is Rs 70 crore, with a total revenue of Rs 700 crore for 10 years. RailTel shall pay 32.4 crore of fixed revenue to PCSCL annually.
Additionally, RailTel shall pay a minimum of 21 per cent as additional revenue to PCSCL over the total additional revenue generated for 10 years. The project also entails the setting up of a Network Operation Centre (NOC), operations and maintenance of the existing digital infrastructure connecting citizens, government, businesses, and communities, and the future extension of PCSCL network Infrastructure along with operations and maintenance activities for a period of 10 years, according to the statement.
Also, the project involves making the PCSCL a self-sustainable organization and evolving its credit worthiness for raising additional resources from the market. Under this Smart city network project, the OFC and Telecom duct network infrastructure of PCSCL covering all the critical and major areas like PCMC offices, police stations, critical junctions, footfall areas, etc., under the PCMC municipal limits shall be monetized by RailTel by leasing the spare ducts and poles.
RailTel shall also provide PCSCL required cores of fibre cable for providing connectivity to smart city elements across the PCMC to create a digitally connected ecosystem for its citizens and to render connected, efficient, and responsive city services (PCMC, PCSCL & Police). This order has been acquired through the rigorous and open competitive bidding process based on highest Cost Method (H1).
Giving information about the project, Sanjai Kumar, Chairman and Managing Director, RailTel said that RailTel is one of the largest neutral telecom infrastructure providers in the country.
"We are thrilled to collaborate with PCSCL in this transformative journey. RailTel is committed to create a digitally connected city that embraces innovation, inclusivity and economic growth. RailTel is eager to embark on this transformative venture and looks forward to working closely with PCSCL to achieve its vision of a digitally advanced and prosperous city," he said.
It is notable that RailTel, a Central Public Sector Enterprise under Ministry of Railways, is one of the largest neutral telecom infrastructure and ICT Solutions and Services providers in the country, owning a pan-India optic fiber network covering several towns and cities and rural areas of the country.
Along with a strong a reliable network of 61000+ RKM of Optic fibre, RailTel has two MeitY empanelled tier III data centres as well. With its pan-India high-capacity network, RailTel is working towards creating a knowledge society at various fronts and has been selected for implementation of various mission mode projects for the Government of India in the telecom field.