Aksh eyeing broadband projects in more States  ( August '8,2005, HBL)

AKSH Optifibre Ltd, which is in the process of implementing a broadband project for Andhra Pradesh Government, is eyeing several others including Rajasthan, Kerala with similar projects.

Interacting with a select group of journalists, the Managing Director of Aksh Optifibre, Dr Kailash S. Choudhari, said with many States laying special focus on e-Governance related projects, the overall spend on e-Governance is set to grow.

"We are actively pursuing similar projects in other States which include Rajasthan, Haryana, Karnataka, Gujarat and Kerala. In fact, the company is also participating in expression of interest called for by some States," he said.

In the Andhra Pradesh Broadband Project the company has been mandated to develop an optical fibre network backbone.

The order is worth Rs 96 crore and is expected to be completed by the end of this fiscal.

The project envisages setting up an optical fibre network across the State and reaching out services offered by the Government to the villages through community kiosks.

The project seeks to link up about 40,000 offices in the State Government initially.

Thereafter, the network of offices would be connected by a 10- gigabyte pipe up to the district level, one-gigabyte network to the mandal-level and a 100-megabyte line up to the village level.

Aksh recorded revenues of Rs 38 crore last year and has projected 300 per cent growth this fiscal riding on the large order from the Andhra Pradesh Government.