Sify gets Rs 64.6 crore contract to man state data centres

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state government has decided to award Rs 64.6 crore work for the operation, maintenance and upgradation of the two State Data Centres (SDCs) to Sify Technologies. The initial rate quoted by Sify was reduced by around Rs 13 crore by holding some components of the contract. Implementation of cloud technology is the major upgradation to be made in the SDCs, which are the central repository of the state government’s computer networks. The government decided to award the work to Sify overlooking the security concerns raised by Opposition leader Ram-esh Chennithala and former KPCC president V.M. Sudheeran. They had been batting for Keltron, which is a public sector undertaking.

However, government sources said that Sify was managing one of the SDCs since 2010. Moreover, Keltron lacked sufficient technology skills for cloud implementation and hence their proposal was rejected by Centre for Development of Advanced Computing, which was appointed as the technical consultant for the work, government sources said. In the wake of the controversies, the state government further reviewed the proposals of Sify was found that the cost of some of the components were quite higher.

“The initial cost quoted by Sify was Rs 67.69 crore (without taxes). But the government decided to hold the enterprise management system and helpdesk components and further negotiations were also held. As a result the cost could be reduced by around Rs 13 crore. Finally, the cost was fixed at Rs 54.7 crore, which would come to Rs 63.6 crore with taxes,” government sources said. SDC-I, located at Co-bank towers in Thiruvananthapuram, was being managed by Keltron since 2012 and SDC-2, located at Technopark, was being managed by Sify Technologies since 2010.