• Home
• GOVERNMENT CXO
• E-GOVERNMENT
• CITIZEN ENGAGEMENT
• TAX AND REVENUE MANAGEMENT
• GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT
• GREEN GOVERNMENT
• GOVERNMENT DATA MANAGEMENT
• GOVERNMENT SECURITY
• GOVERNMENT CLOUD
• GOVERNMENT ANALYTICS
• GOVERNMENT GIS
• CONNECTED GOVERNMENT
• DIGITAL INCLUSION
• EDUCATION IT
• HEALTHCARE IT

Central Government, E-Government, Policy

India rolls out US$351 million e-services network

By Alice Kok | 27 February 2009

The Indian government has approved a US$351 million initiative to deliver government-to-government, government-to-business and government-to-citizen e-services in 32 states and Union Territories (UTs) across the country.

The initiative, called the State Wide Area Network (SWAN), will provide 2 Mbps connectivity to all state headquarters, district headquarters and over 6,000 blocks across the country.

The Department of Information Technology (DIT) in India is expected to complete all SWAN implementations by September 2009. Presently, five states have already implemented the network, while 14 states are in an advanced stage of completion.

DIT has cited “the lack of reliable connectivity with appropriate bandwidth” as a problem hindering some states, especially in the Northeast region.

SWAN was approved by the government in 2005 with an estimated outlay of US$650 million under the National e-Governance Plan.

The SWAN project intends to modernise the communication infrastructure in the state by creating state-of-the-art network for G2C, G2B and G2G interfaces. However, Goa and Andaman & Nicobar have decided not to opt for the government-sponsored SWAN project.

Andaman & Nicobar has shunned the project because the island’s administration believes that it already has sufficient bandwidth capacity to meet the UTs needs. Goa has refused to take up the project as its existing broadband project already connects every Taluka in the state with 10 Gbps through optic fibre cable.

Goa is the only Indian state to have a truly converged triple-play citizen centric network, which was recently inaugurated by the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh.

---