Kolkata, May 8 : The department of telecommunication (DoT) has given its approval on Thursday to set up a cable-landing station at Digha in West Bengal for the Rs 1600-crore submarine cable-laying project between India and South-east Asia.

The project, which will function as a parking space for submarine cables carrying bandwidth, is likely to reduce the bandwidth costs for the software and BPO companies by 10-30%.

“It will help the information technology companies in the eastern region as all of them are looking for an alternative route for connectivity. Their costs will come down eventually,” said the state information technology minister, Debesh Das.

According to an IT department official, the project was shifted from Haldia, the spot initially preferred, to Digha owing to locational disadvatages spotted by the Union telecommunication ministry.

The project has already been delayed by two years as Chennai, which already has two cable-landing stations, has been lobbying for it.

“This will open up newer opportunities for the region,” said Das. So far, the IT companies in the region had been using cable-landing stations in Chennai, he added. Bengal’s first cable-landing station will serve as the entry point for undersea cables carrying the bandwidth. Submarine cables will bring bandwidth from Singapore to the state while carrying voice and non-voice data.

Millennium Telecom Ltd (MTL), a joint venture of Mahanagar Telecom Nigam Ltd and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd, had floated Rs 1,600 crore tender last year for laying a submarine cable from India to South-east Asia and the Middle East. The cable will provide bandwidth apart from carrying long distance call traffic.

According to the sources in the IT ministry, the investment for cable-landing station project is Rs. 200 crore. “The project is likely to be up and running within a few months,” Das said.