Skipper Limited, one of the world's leading manufacturers for power transmission & distribution (T&D) structures and a prominent manufacturer of telecom and railway structures, has secured fresh new orders valuing Rs 2,570 crores from Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL).

The contract has been awarded by BSNL for supply and erection of ground based telecom towers, infrastructure as a service provider (IaaSP) for supply, installation of infrastructure items and subsequent O&M for 5 years extendable to 5 more years in the uncovered villages of India under 4G saturation projects.

The total contract value awarded to Skipper under these projects is approximately Rs 2,570 crores to be executed under capex and opex model over 5 years. The works are to be executed in the states of Rajasthan and Orissa. The telecom sites will be set up to provide 4G connectivity as part of the 4G saturation projects in areas still uncovered with any sort of mobile communication or are currently having only 2G/ 3G Connectivity.

The project will be executed using the home-grown 4G Stack and will be funded through Government of India USOF (Universal Service Obligation Fund), which is a Rs 55,000 crores strong cash reserves meant for providing connectivity in rural and remote areas.

Sajan Kumar Bansal, Managing Director, Skipper Limited, said, “We are glad that we are playing a crucial role and contributing our bit towards India’s infrastructure development and proud to be part of government vision to provide mobile connectivity in rural areas. The project will promote the delivery of various e- governance services, banking services, telemedicine, tele-education etc through mobile broadband and promote employment in rural areas. Our company is the largest manufacturer of telecom tower in India. Backed by our forte in executing projects for the telecom sector; this is another significant win for us. Our large engineering capacity to support captive manufacturing of telecom structures and decades of experience in building Tower sites on turnkey basis will vastly complement the execution of this prestigious project and will establish our company as a front runner in this domain.”

He added, “Going forward, the marketplace looks exciting and ripe with opportunities and the company has a positive outlook based on strong traction in domestic telecom on account of future 4G up-gradation and 5G Rollout to support high bandwith usage requirement which will draw more infrastructural capex into the sector. Additionally, we are witnessing strong traction in power T&D and polymer market segments.”

Skipper Ltd, established in 1981, is one of the leading companies in the power transmission & distribution and the polymer segment. With over 40 years of domain knowledge, it is largest in India and tenth globally basis the manufacturing capacity. Skipper differentiates its offerings with high quality but cost effective solution for infrastructure providers and telecom operators. Its international footprint spans across continents such as Latin America, Europe, and Africa and is spread across 40 countries with presence across sub-segments such as power transmission & telecom towers and poles, EPC, monopoles, and railway electrification structures. Skipper Ltd is a national powerhouse in the polymer pipe business. Under the brand name of Skipper, the company manufactures premium quality polymer pipes & fittings, which serve both the agricultural as well as plumbing sectors.