Dot to Start off Mobile Service Phase II in Rural Areas

Press Information Bureau
Government of India
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Shri Pallam Raju’s valedictory address to INDAIR-08 Seminar

New Delhi : August 27, 2008

Following is the extract from the address delivered by the Minister of State for Defence Shri MM Pallam Raju at the Valedictory Session of the ‘INDAIR-08: Strategic partnering of IAF and Industry on Modernisation and Indigenisation’ seminar in New Delhi today.

Defence Procurement Procedure is in existence since 1992. I would like to draw your attention to the changes incorporated in the scope of these procedures. The changes have been evolved over the years based on our practical experience. The Defence Procurement Strategy initially started from the 'buy' category and subsequently grew to 'Buy and Make' category. Today we focus on the ‘Make' category. The inference is simple and straightforward. India is a globally recognised force to reckon with in the field of science and technology. The potential of Indian Industry as of now lies in development of technology, implement it and make an impact in the global market.

India has a strong industrial base. Our strength is the large pool of technically qualified manpower. This joint event organised by the IAF and CII is an indicator that there are ample opportunities for the Indian Industry in the defence sector. The timing and the theme of the event "Strategic partnering of IAF and Industry on modernisation and indigenisation" is appropriate in the present scenario. Our objective now should be to strengthen ourselves economically and technologically. The need for partnerships both on the strategic and technological front should focus on issues to widen our policy and developmental options. Strin

gent quality and safety requirements make the field of military aviation technologically complex and demanding. The foreign defence vendors are in the process of preparing to offer aerospace technologies to competent players including manufacturers and design houses. The offset clause is expected to offer a bonanza of business to the Indian Industry. The Indian industry will thus have to upgrade their infrastructure to be in the race. The right moves in the next couple of months will reap multifarious benefits in the years to come.

Defence-Industry partnership should be with wider perspective to achieve our goal of self-reliance. The focus should be towards creating a self-reliant industrial and technological base that will enable India to play a deciding role in the world market. The present commercial environment in the global market should be used to attract financial inflows for development and to offer our skills for outsourcing services. It is definitely possible with a vibrant Indian private sector whose participation in production activities in the defence areas is growing at a rapid pace. The resultant mutual benefit in all probability would be collectively seen in the form of growth of our nation at large.

Self belief, determination and perseverance are important factors in this field of R & D than the technical potential and infrastructural resources. I am optimistic that this two day interaction would have broken all barriers and developed trust and faith to join hands and work as a team. The mantra is "team work" that will strengthen our all round capabilities. The present policies of the government are aimed at providing ample opportunities to the Indian defence Industry in a transparent way.

The country should strengthen its indigenous research, design and manufacturing capabilities. The government of India is fully committed to support and enhance the self-reliance efforts. The IAF and vibrant Indian industries will have to work as a team towards the goal of self-reliance and contribute to effective exploitation of our new acquisitions.

The conclusion of this seminar which was aimed to garner our resources and reassess our strength and weaknesses is truly not the end but just a beginning in our journey towards greater self-reliance. I have no doubt in my mind that each element of the industry and defence would continue closer interactions and achieve meaningful results to make the nation proud. Let us grow technologically and commercially and provide effective resources to our armed forces.

PK / RAJ /:/...spandey/kol...(RelSet2_27Aug08)



Press Information Bureau
Government of India
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Dot to Start off Mobile Service Phase II in Rural Areas
All Villages with 500 Population to be Covered

New Delhi : August 27, 2008


The Department of Telecom is to soon launch the second phase of mobile phone expansion covering about 2 lakh villages. With this, mobile services will cover all habitats with population of 500. About 11000 additional towers will be installed under the scheme. Details of the scheme are being worked out and locations of the towers being identified. The installation work is likely to be completed in one to one and half year’s time.

Under Phase 1 of the scheme, about 7900 towers, also called infrastructure sites, are already being installed in 500 districts spread over 27 states. Out of these, the state owned BSNL is installing over 6000 towers. The setting up and managing of these infrastructure services started in June 2007, with subsidy support from the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) of DOT. The state-wise details of these towers under installation, are given in the table below.
Sl. No.

StateNo. of Districts No. of Towers
1Andhra Pradesh22581
2Arunachal Pradesh1262
3Assam2090
4Bihar37489
5Chhattisgarh16560
6Gujarat466
7Haryana814
8Himachal Pradesh11295
9Jammu & Kashmir12178
10Jharkhand18305
11Karnataka26427
12Kerala1146
13Madhya Pradesh45985
14Maharashtra331017
15Manipur995
16Meghalaya7102
17Mizoram871
18Nagaland756
19Orissa30432
20Punjab313
21Rajasthan32411
22Sikkim38
23Tamil Nadu27371
24Tripura4147
25Uttar Pradesh66666
26Uttranchal13217
27West Bengal16167
Total5007871*

(The number of towers is subject to change based on actual field survey and coverage achieved thereof as per the terms and conditions of the Agreements.)

About 1100 towers have already been set up. Mobile services from many of these towers have also started. Services from all the towers are likely to be completed in a phased manner by the end of the current year. Infrastructure created is to be shared by three service providers for provision of mobile services. Number of towers commissioned by the successful bidders is given in table below
Sl. No.Name of BidderNo. of TowersNo. of Towers Commissioned
1.Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd.6175102
2.GTL Infrastructure Ltd.421371
3.Hutchison Essar Cellular Ltd.123242
4.Hutchison Essar South Ltd.208
5.National Information Technologies Ltd. (Now KEC)38416
6.Quipo Telecom Infrastructure Ltd.8884
7.Reliance Communications Infrastructure Ltd.472245
78711060


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