Dilip Buildcon's STL-DBL consortium has emerged as the lowest bidder (L1) for BSNL's BharatNet Phase-III broadband connectivity project.

Funded by the USOF, the project costs Rs 1,625.36 crore has been to provide middle mile and last mile connectivity in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) and Ladakh. As part of the consortium, Dilip Buildcon's portion for project execution is 70.23 percent. Apart from three years for construction, the company will also receive a 10-year maintenance contract for the same. The optical and digital solutions company will implement an automation-led fibre deployment approach, utilising drone surveys, GIS mapping, and AI-led network design, while STL has previously executed the Network for Spectrum (NFS) project, which created a 10,000-km network for the Indian Armed Forces.

Recently, ITI has also emerged as L1 for three packages of the BharatNet Phase-3 project including Package No 15, covering Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, and Manipur, valued at Rs 1,537 crore. It was also awarded Package No 8 for Himachal Pradesh and Package No 9 for West Bengal and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, bringing the combined value of these packages to Rs 3,022 crore.