(THE NEWSMAN OF INDIA.COM)
RailTel Corporation of India, a Mini Ratna Central Gov. PSU under Ministry of Railways has received a work order from South Eastern Coalfields Limited (SECL) worth Rs 15.76 crore for installing Internet Leased Line (ILL) in 16 command areas of SECL located in Madhya Pradesh and Chhatisgarh States. RailTel is a prominent Information and Communications Technology (ICT) provider and one of the largest neutral telecom infrastructure providers in the country owning a pan-India optic fiber network of 61000+ route km on exclusive Right of Way (ROW) along Railway track. SECL, a Govt. of India undertaking is the highest coal producing company of India and is one of the 8 subsidiaries of Maharatna Government of India undertaking Coal India Ltd (CIL).

The scope of the work order includes providing dedicated uncompressed, unshared symmetric internet leased line with different bandwidths. The ILL is to be provided for a period of 5 years.16 command area offices of SECL where ILL is to be provided are:-

Bhatgoan, Bishrampur, Chirimiri, Dipka, Gevra, Hasdeo, , Johilla, Korba, Kusmunda, Raigarh, , CEWS Gevra, CWS Korba, Central Stores Korba-all in Chattisgarh:Baikunthpur, Jamuna & Kotma, Sohagpur-all in Madhya Pradesh. Internet will be provided not only at Area Office mentioned above but will further be distributed to nearly 500 Locations (weigh bridges/washeries/mines) situated in these 16 command areas. The Internet has become crucial for the survival of any businesses or organizations which are becoming increasingly dependent on the internet leased line or ILL for better internet connectivity.

An Internet Leased Line is a dedicated internet connection that provides direct connectivity on a network between multiple endpoints. Unlike broadband, it is not shared by multiple third-party users in a locality, and, thus, offers high-connectivity and a fixed bandwidth at all times and is also far more secure from any exploitation and malicious cyber-attacks than broadband internet connectivity. Moreover, leased lines provide with balanced connection speeds with same download and upload speeds. Another major advantage of a leased line is Service Level Agreements (SLAs) which ensure the minimum level of service from the provider.

RailTel is also building and maintaining Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS)-Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) at several locations of CIL subsidiaries including SECL. This MPLS-VPN network along with ILL created by RailTel for CIL subsidiaries are in a big way facilitating the implementation of the mega project of single instance ERP system across Coal India Ltd. which has been christened as ‘Project Passion’. ERP will help CIL to take timely (real-time) decisions, increase productivity and reduce costs.

Talking about its Puneet Chawla, CMD, RailTel said: “One of the core businesses of RailTel is to provide reliable internet connectivity in the country and the company is in the forefront of National Digital Transformation. Coal sector is an important sector for RailTel and we have been implementing many projects for CIL and its subsidiaries. From January 2021 onwards, we have received order worth Rs. 700+ Cr. from various subsidiaries of Coal India. We expect a further revenue growth from the sector given the digitalization thrust across the sector. Apart from ILL, RailTel also provides MPLS VPN services, Internet Bandwidth, CCTV Implementation, HD video conferencing, LAN/WAN Connectivity etc. to coal companies. We are committed to provide best services to our clients. Our efforts in strengthening Internet infrastructure of CIL system is facilitating implementation of their Project Passion’ about ERP which is going to be a key in digitizing the coal sector resulting in process optimization and business growth.”