The government has started the process of awarding the cable supply contract for the national optical fibre network (NOFN), say news reports. It has received financial bids and shortlisted a few companies to supply the cable for laying the optical fibre network across the country.
Based on the financial bids, companies including Paramount Cables India, Aksh Optic Fibre, Sterlite, Finolex and Sudarshan have emerged as the lowest bidders for the contract. The Rs 25 billion contract has been divided into six parts. As per the terms of the contract, the lowest bidder will get 70 per cent of the order while the second lowest bidder in each part (based on the geographical location) will get the contract for the rest of the project. As part of the project, the government would be connecting 250,000 gram panchayats with an OFC network for delivering broadband services.
