E-Governance : 12/1/10

SPANCO EMERGES LOWEST BIDDER FOR RAJASTHAN PROJECT
Adith Charlie, Mumbai
The Hindu Business Line

Technology services company Spanco has emerged as the lowest bidder for setting up a state data center (SDC) in Rajasthan and managing it for a period of five years, according to a top company official.

In doing so, the BSE-listed company that has quoted Rs 30 crore for the overall project has pipped its larger rivals such as Tata Consultancy Services, HCL Infosystems, and Reliance Data Centre.

Spanco will be the official implementation agency for the project as it will be responsible for design, site preparation, supply, installation, integration, testing, commissioning and managing the setup for a period of five years, Vidur Sehgal, Senior Vice-President of the Mumbai based company, told Business Line.

“We will be having at least 25 dedicated resources for the project round-the-clock,” he said, adding that the SDC will be established in Jaipur.

Creation of SDC`s have been envisaged as a key component under the National e-governance plan in order to enable individual States to consolidate services, applications and infrastructure to ensure prompt electronic delivery of government to government, government-to-consumer and government-to-business services through intranet and citizen service centres.

As is the norm with most e-governance deals, Spanco's financial bid for the Rajasthan SDC will now be evaluated. The entire procedure will be completed in the next three weeks, within which the contract will be awarded.

If Spanco clinches the deal, it will be the second SDC engagement for the company. In October last year, it bagged the first SDC deal from the Orissa government.

 

WORK ON UID, LPG PLANS TO BEGIN SOON
Pune
The Times of India (Pune edition)

The pilot projects of the Union government’s unique identification (UID) and kerosene-free city initiatives will begin in the city soon.

“As part of the pilot projects, all ration card holders in the city would be issued smart cards,” food distribution officer Pradip Patil said.

To achieve this, the district administration will hold an extensive drive to verify the validity and details of every ration card. Information pertaining to the supply of kerosene and LPG to every ration card holder will also be collected. The drive will start around January 20 and will run for 30 days.