Oct. 29, 2009 (The Hindu Business Line) --

Adith Charlie

Tata Consultancy Services, HCL Infosystems, Mahindra Satyam (NYSE:SAY) (in partnership with Spanco Telesystems) and Infosys Technologies (NASDAQ:INFY) are in the fray for this engagement, which involves setting up operations support systems and business support system for the telecom company.

Though HCL Infosystems emerged the lowest bidder in the east, west and south zones, all contracts will be awarded only after BSNL evaluates every bid across the zones. This is expected to be completed in the next 10-15 days, sources say.

“The prices quoted by the bidders could move up/down by 10-15 per cent as BSNL would evaluate whether or not all key components related to the hardware, software and annual maintenance costs have been factored properly in the bid prices. Moreover, the net present value of the bids would also be calculated,” a person with direct knowledge of the development told Business Line.

The difference between the present value of cash inflows and cash outflows is the NPV, which is used in capital budgeting to analyse the profitability of an investment or project.
Zone-wise contenders

If HCL continues to be L1 or the lowest bidder in all three zones even post-evaluation, it will be given the contract only in two zones according to BSNL tender stipulations. The company will have to vacate those zones wherein the L1/L2 ratio is the highest, another reliable source said.

Should that happen, the race could be between TCS for the west and south zones and Mahindra Satyam-Spanco for the east. TCS was the second lowest bidder for both the west and south zone with Rs 908 crore and Rs 906 crore, respectively. On the other hand, the Mahindra Satyam-Spanco combine was L1 in the east zone at Rs 904 crore.

This IT outsourcing contract is part of BSNL’s 93-million line GSM project for procuring network equipment, tower infrastructure and technology solutions and services.