RailTel Corporation of India Ltd (RailTel), a Mini Ratna CPSE under Ministry of Railways, Government of India has signed a Tripartite MOU with InoviTel (PTY) LTD and Tsiko Africa Energy & Infrastructure for Tsiko Group to cooperate and collaborate on projects so as to bring Indian technology, innovation and products to South Africa and the adjoining region and explore opportunities in Telecom, Railways and other IT/ICT businesses in South Africa. The scope of this MOU covers activation and commercialisation of dark fibre along the Railway lines and High voltage Transmission lines in South Africa. It also covers Railway Signal & Telecommunication solutions, Digital twin Modelling of Railway assets for predictive maintenance and Traffic simulation, OFC based Distributed Acoustic System (DAS) etc. for public and private Rail operators within South Africa, connectivity solution to SA connect/Railway and private business fibre network operators, IT/ICT/Digitalization Solutions for Digital Transformation of South Africa.
The MoU was signed on 24.04.2024 at Pretoria, South Africa in the presence of Sh. Prabhat Kumar, High Commissioner of India to South Africa and Sh. Mahesh Kumar, Consul General of India, Johannesburg. Sh. Parag Kumar Goyal, Principal Executive Director /Enterprise Business, RailTel exchanged the MOU with Chief Executive Officer InoviTel (PTY) LTD Mr Lavine Singh and Chief Executive Officer Tsiko Africa Energy and Infrastructure (Pty) Ltd. Mr Pragasen Naidoo.
RailTel is excited to collaborate with our partners InoviTel and Tsiko Africa Energy & Infrastructure of the Tsiko Group to undertake significant projects in South Africa related to Digital Transformation, Railway Infrastructure and IT/ICT solutions, said Parag Kumar Goyal, Executive Director of RailTel, who inked the MoU in Johannesburg on 24 April 2024. He added that RailTel Chairman and Managing Director Sanjai Kumar had expressed keen desire to bring Indian technology, innovative solutions and expertise along with skill development to catalyse the growth and development in relevant sectors of South Africa.
Dr Kinesh Pather, Chairman of the Tsiko Group, said the MoU marked a proud step by his group to expand collaboration with a major state owned enterprise from India. Dr Pather and Anand Moodliar, Director of Tsiko Group, are prominent Indian Diaspora community and business leaders. Pather and Moodliar said they are keen to leverage the achievements that India is consistently creating to accelerate growth and bring world class technologies and solutions to South Africa to accelerate the growth agenda of South Africa. Pather who recently founded the South African Indo-Afro Business Association (SAIBA) said the MoU between Tsiko Africa and India’s RailTel is also a demonstrator for others to curate valuable partnerships on the India-South Africa corridor that could boost bilateral commerce and trade. SAIBA focuses to empower Indo-Afro businesses in South Africa and will organize trade delegation visits both ways to synergize and strengthen partnerships between the two growing economies.
Munish Gupta, Chairman of PIO Services Pvt Ltd., a well known global Diaspora leader as well as media and social entrepreneur, has been instrumental in carving out the partnership between RailTel and the Tsiko Group. Gupta said two strong partners were poised to take on strategic projects vital to meet the immediate needs of South Africa. Gupta has over the years forged important partnerships between India and Africa across sectors that include sharing technologies, innovations, best business practices from India to Africa. Munish thanked governments on both sides for catalyzing and supporting cross border partnerships. He added that he was particularly grateful to India’s Ministry of External Affairs and South Africa’s Foreign Affairs Ministry, especially the support of Indian High Commission in Pretoria, Consulate General in Johannesburg and South Africa High Commission in Delhi.
About:
RailTel– RailTel, a “Mini Ratna (Category-I)” Central Public Sector Enterprise, is one of the largest neutral telecom infrastructure provider in Republic of India owning an extensive Pan-India optic fibre network of 61000+ RKM covering major metros, cities and rural areas and reaching 70% of India’s population. RailTel has built a robust transport network based on DWDM and an IP/MPLS network, catering to the critical communication requirements of Railways, Defence, Banking, Coal and other strategic sectors. With its Pan India high-capacity network, two Tier-III Data Centres, RailCloud and a Security Operation Centre, RailTel serves mission-critical applications of numerous organizations of the Central and State Governments in India and is working towards creating a knowledge society at various fronts. RailTel’s service portfolio includes a comprehensive range of digital transformation solutions such as MPLS VPN, Telepresence, leased line, Tower Co- location, Data Center services, Security Operation Centre Service and more. RailTel also excel in executing IT and ICT projects on a turnkey basis, tailoring bespoke solutions to meet the customer’s requirements.
Tsiko Africa Energy and Infrastructure and InoviTel are 100% black-owned South African based entities that are supported by the Tsiko Africa Group and also part of the South African Indo-Afro Business Association NPC. Through its alliances and/or partnerships they have, amongst others; interests in the oil and gas sector, the telecoms sector, the railways sector, the clean energy sector and the infrastructure sector. In support of its interests in the Railways sector and to compliments its strategic objectives in the Telecoms, Digital Transformation and Infrastructure Sector; Tsiko Africa Energy & Infrastructure and InoviTel is proud to enter into the Tripartite MOU with RailTel Corporation of India Ltd (RailTel).
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Dated-24.04.2024
Source: Economic Times