The project has additional operations and maintenance component of Rs 862 crore for ten years, which takes the total value of the contract to Rs 3,329 crore, the statement said. “We are proud to have been awarded this prestigious Project. This advanced next-generation network would be very critical communication Network for Indian Army,” HFCL Managing Director Mahendra Nahata said. The project will connect various locations of Indian Army while integrating all existing and legacy communication set-up with advanced internet protocol-based network to offer secure transmission of voice, data, video and multi-media. “Besides augmenting revenue growth, this project shall add to the company’s profitability and cash flows. The O&M component, at the same time, shall contribute to the profitability of the company over a fairly long term,” Nahata said. The defence ministry and Department of Telecom (DoT) had signed a pact in 2009-10, under which the former had agreed to vacate 25 MHz of 3G spectrum and 20 MHz in the 2G band in phases. In return, the DoT had committed to set up an exclusive defence network for its communication services. BSNL has been assigned the task to set up this network. The government in May 2018 nearly doubled the budget to Rs 24,664 crore for the NFS project from around Rs 13,000 crore allotted earlier.
