
NEW DELHI, July 18: US sanctions are likely to take their toll on the 70 million Rs 315 crore loan for modernising the spectrum management of function of the Department of Telecommunications DoT and the Telecom Engineering Centre.
At a meeting held earlier this week, the Department of Economic Affairs advised the DoT to go ahead with the project from their own funds with the option of quot;retroactivequot; funding from the World Bank as and when sanctions are lifted and the amount is actually sanctioned.
The Rs 315 crore fund will be utilised for the Wireless Planning and Coordination wing which is expected to cost 50 million Rs 225 crore and the TEC upgradation budgeted to cost 17 million Rs 90 crore.
Most of the funds will be utilised for procuring latest equipment conforming standardised global technology. The equipment will be used for efficient spectrum management and frequency allocation. The World Bank is also likely to provide training for the upgradation.
While the Wireless Planning and Coordination project is likely to take three years to be completed, the Telecom Engineering Centre project may be completed a little earlier.
The loan is likely to carry an interest of 4 per cent to be repaid over a period of 20 years. TheDoT is likely to float global tenders for procuring the equipment.