Kerala: K-FON violated Make In India criteria by using Chinese cable wires, claims AG report

According to the Auditor General report, Kerala's dream project K-FON has violated the tender condition of complying with the Make in India criteria as 70 percent of the cable wires were imported from China.  

Thiruvananthapuram: The Auditor General report has levelled serious allegations against Kerala's dream project K-FON. 

According to the report, K-FON violated the tender condition of complying with the Make in India criteria. 

The cables used for the internet connection have been imported from China. Concerns regarding the cable's quality have also been raised by the project partner KSEB. The AG discovered that KSITL imported significant portions of the cable for the project from China and gave the contract business LS Cable undue assistance. 

According to the AG's report, the optical unit, which is the main component of the optical ground wire, also belongs to the Chinese company. 

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday (June 5), launched Kerala Fibre Optic Network (K-FON), a project owned by the state government.

"The KFON connection has become a reality already in 9,000 households and 17,412 offices. Soon every household will get internet services. Everyone will be part of real Kerala," Vijayan said.

K-FON intends to provide free broadband connections to 14,000 economically disadvantaged families in Kerala as well as internet connectivity to an estimated 30,000 government workplaces in the state as part of the initial phase.

The state government launched the K-FON programme with the intention of preventing private cable networks and mobile service providers from taking advantage of it. The Chief Minister had emphasised that the K-FON initiative, which the LDF government planned to implement through the Department of Electricity and IT, will aid in closing the social digital divide.

The government and KIIFB are funding the project's implementation, which is expected to cost more than Rs 1,500 crore, but K-FON will be responsible for handling operations and administration.