HCL rides e-gov wave

Indian companies are finally harvesting the big broadband push and 3G drive across the country. New projects worth Rs 250 crore have been ba...

Indian companies are finally harvesting the big broadband push and 3G drive across the country. New projects worth Rs 250 crore have been bagged by HCL Infosystems over the last eight weeks alone, all in the 3G, PC, IT education and broadband space.

The biggest two projects from a total of five or six projects bagged include one to provide PCs, computer training and after-sales support to over 1,000 schools in Punjab. This project is being implemented as part of an ongoing e-governance drive in the state.

The other assignment involves building a countrywide internet backbone for a leading telecom player. This project, won after a competitive bidding process, will help the telecom company provide broadband connections and value-added services across the country. It will also enable a new Call Data Record CDR based billing system, NextGen networks and 3G services for the telco.

These two projects are likely to take up a lion8217;s share of the Rs 250 crore deals struck, though a third project just won will help HCL create a countrywide ICT infrastructure for retail branches of a leading bank.

8216;8216;The economy is doing well and so e-governance and social spending such as in school and IT education projects are likely to do well,8217;8217; said Ajai Chowdhry, Chairman and CEO, HCL Infosystems.

The smaller projects, also in the PC and broadband space, will have a size of Rs 20 crore to Rs 40 crore each. All these projects are to be implemented over the current financial year, said Chowdhry.

The company on Tuesday reported a consolidated revenue of Rs 2806.5 crore during the quarter ended December 31, 2005 as against Rs 1994.8 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year, a growth of 41 per cent.

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These Rs 250 crore projects do not reflect in HCL Infosystems8217; just-announced results, but will figure in the company8217;s next quarterly and annual results announcements, Chowdhry said.