Ircon Forms Alliance With Usha Taga

Ircon International Ltd has tied up with Malayasia-based Usha Tagas to set up an optical fibre management information and communications system along the entire length of the Indian Railways tracks from Mumbai to Chennai and Bangalore, with an extension to Hyderabad. The project will be constructed on a Build-Operate-Own basis and is expected to cost approximately Rs 200 crore, of which about Rs 60 crore will be raised through equity.

Under the scheme, significant portions of the capacity will be leased out to private telecom operators while the rest will be used by the railways to improve its own communication network. The system will use the latest technology.

 

The equity will be funded by Ircon and co-promoter Usha Tagas. The percentage holding of the two promoters has not yet been finalised, but the controlling stake will be held by Ircon, official sources revealed. Indian as well as foreign financial institutions and banks, including Malaysian organisations, are being approached for loans to raise Rs 140 crore. Thus, the resource-strapped Railways have been spared from investing any money into the project.

A joint venture company is being formed to implement the project. Work is likely to start within two or three months and is expected to be completed within three years.

Similar optical fibre projects have been introduced earlier in the Railways on a modest scale. However, the present project will be the largest taking into account both the route length and the size of the investment.

Other public sector undertakings or state-departments which have been contemplating optical fibre projects include the Power Grid Corporation and various state electricity boards (SEBs). The PowerGrid fibre network, to be laid over its high-tension power transmission lines, is expected to cost some Rs 1,000 crore.

SEBs like the Andhra Pradesh SEB have also been studying the feasibility of commissioning similar projects on a Build-Own-Transfer basis for some months now. Private telecom operators propose to set up capacity over the SEBs power transmission and distribution networks.