RailTel's order book is expected to touch Rs 6,000 crore by March 2022: Puneet Chawla, CMD

Puneet Chawla, Chairman & Managing Director (CMD), Railtel Corporation talks about orders from the Ministry of Defence and IRCON, plans related to the international market, merger proposal with IRCTC, BharatNet Project and MoU with CSC and C-DOT, among others, during a candid chat with Zee Business' Swati Khandelwal. Edited Excerpts:

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Q: You have announced the Rs 211-crore order win from IRCON International. Help us understand more about this order and by when it will be executed? Also, what's your order book pipeline for 2022?

A: We got this order yesterday. In it, we have an order of tunnel communication for about 35 kilometres on the Dharam - Banihal section of the Jammu Srinagar Rail Link Project. A VHF Communication is linked between the guard and the driver when the train is running which breaks when in the middle of the tunnel. We have to ensure that the link doesn't break and is maintained. For this purpose, we will have to implement a project in the region. In addition to this, we will also have to install CCTV, public communication system and provide an optical fibre cable link on the way. The entire work has to be completed in 12 months and we are trying to complete a substantial portion of the project by March 2022, so that the revenues are booked this year, itself. As far as our total order book is concerned, we have orders worth Rs 5,250 crore including this order. Going forward, we expect that our order book will go up to Rs 6,000 crore by March 2022. When it comes to income generation, our H1FY22 results were quite good and our total revenue from operations stood at Rs 665 crore in the period and total income stood at Rs 696 crore, which was 26% more from the H1FY21. In fact, we are just not maintaining the progress but are increasing our income at a much faster pace.

Q: Before this, you have also received a contract worth Rs 300 crore from the Defence Ministry for the implementation of a secure OPS network. By when will we see the revenue getting reflected in revenue and when it will be visible in your books? Also, you have provided an idea of having an order book of Rs 6,000 crore by end of FY22. So, if we have a look at the projections then what would be the growth rate of the order book for the next year?

A: You have talked about the secured operation orders book and we received this order in August-end. The timeline for the completion of this order is also 12 months. In this, we have started delivery of equipment and software and have booked revenue of around Rs 36 crore in November 2021 and are expecting that we will book revenue of around Rs 20-25 crore in December as well. So, the delivery has already started in this order and we are expecting that we will be able to book 40-50% of the income by March 2022. In addition to it, we have a target of having an order book of Rs 6,000 crore by the end of FY22 and shortly, we are expecting an order from defence and we will be able to communicate in the next few days. We also expect that we will get orders from some other sectors including railways.

Q: How is the international market is looking at the moment and what are the geographies where you think you can get some good orders or you are also pitching in to and what is the quantum and size of the international order book?

A: RailTel has not ventured into the international market, yet but are trying to venture into it and are looking forward to some opportunities. We have participated in a tender in Africa. It was a tender for school education and we have participated in it. At the same time, we are also looking into some signalling work contracts in Bangladesh. So, we want to enter into the international field and are likely to enter into the international market in the next few months.

Q: Can you help us give an update on the proposal of the merger of RailTel with IRCTC? 

A: Such decisions are taken at the topmost level of the Government of India and the concerned ministry takes such decisions. So it would not be right for me to comment anything on that right now.

Q: BharatNet is a big and critical project. So, tell us about your progress on the project and what opportunities do you see in it? Also, 5G is expected to be rolled out in India next year. So as a player, how much you will be able to gain out of it? - You have recently signed an MoU with CSC and C-DOT to boost broadband reach. What is an update on it and how would you be serving under the MoU?

A: Let's talk about the BharatNet project first. Under the BharatNet project, our work is going at a good pace in Gujarat. We have laid down the fiber cable in around 35,000-gram panchayats (GPs) out of which around 6,130 have become operational. In addition to it, we have been provided additional work by BBNL (Bharat Broadband Network Limited) and it is for lading 237 new GPs. In this, fiber cable of 3,400 kilometres has been laid. So, it is progressing well and we expect that we will get a revenue of around Rs 50 crore from the project by March 2022. Even in North Eastern India, we have laid the fiber in around 1,200 GPs and have also started rectification in some areas where some damages were reported. As far as the MoU with CSC and C-DOT is concerned, we have more than 5,000 broadband boxes right now, where we have provided Wi-Fi facility and these 5,000 are from the rural areas. In total, we have 6,070 boxes. Through the boxes of these rural boxes, we want to provide broadband services to the nearby villages. Common Service Centre (CSC) has its village-level entrepreneurs (VLEs) and if we two will come together then we will be able to provide broadband services in the villages around these 5,000 railway stations through the VLEs. For this, low-cost equipment will be required which should be a low-cost indigenous Atmanirbhar Bharat, Make In India's equipment. We have signed an MoU with C-DOT with the aim that we can supply low-cost Make In India equipment