Short Summary: ITI Limited has signed a ₹1901 crore agreement with BSNL for implementing NER-II Package-15 of the BharatNet Phase-3 project across Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, and Manipur. Including two other packages in Himachal Pradesh, West Bengal, and the Andaman & Nicobar Islands, ITI’s total order value under BharatNet now stands at ₹6956 crore.
Full Article: ITI Limited, India’s first PSU and a leading telecom manufacturing company, has signed an agreement with BSNL for NER-II Package-15 under the BharatNet Phase-3 project. Appointed as the Project Implementing Agency (PIA) on behalf of the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF), ITI will execute work worth ₹1901 crore, including ₹1168 crore in capital expenditure, ₹700.84 crore in operating expenditure for the new network, and ₹32.21 crore for maintaining the existing one.
ITI has also signed agreements with BSNL for Package 8 in Himachal Pradesh and Package 9 in West Bengal and the Andaman & Nicobar Islands. The combined order value of these two packages is ₹5055 crore, taking ITI’s total BharatNet Phase-3 order value across three packages to ₹6956 crore.
The BharatNet Phase-3 project is divided into 16 packages across all states and union territories. BSNL had invited bids for the design, supply, installation, operation, and maintenance of the Middle Mile Network under a Design-Build-Operate-Maintain (DBOM) model. In November 2024, ITI and its consortium partner emerged as the lowest bidder for Package 15, covering Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, and Manipur.
Commenting on the development, ITI Chairman and Managing Director Rajesh Rai said the company is fully prepared to deliver the project efficiently and highlighted ITI’s growing role in expanding India’s digital infrastructure through its experience in optical fiber network deployments.