The eastern Indian state of Odisha is all set to get a Cable Landing Station (CLS) at Puri. According to local media reports, a government official recently reviewed the progress of the detailed progress report that is being prepared by RailTel and Deloitte.
Puri, a centuries old temple town along India’s east coast, is best known for its annual Jagannath Yatra (incidentally the origin of the word “juggernaut”), and other attractions like an international independent film festival, and sand sculptures on the beach. Like Chennai, that is located further south, Puri too offers an excellent location for building subsea cable infrastructure due to its strategic geographical location and suitable coastline.
In a press release, the state government said that the facility will provide “direct international fibre connectivity, reducing latency, improving internet speed, and positioning Odisha as a prime destination for hyperscalers, Global Capability Centres (GCCs), and enterprises.”
Though the Odisha state government has only recently renewed its interest in digital infrastructure, its State Data Center (SDC), that has been operational since 2011. It provides access to e-Governance applications and services to government employees through Intranet and to the citizens through public Internet. It was set up by the Odisha Computer Application Center (OCAC) at Bhubaneswar with 24X7 support, to meet the growing needs of digital Odisha initiatives.
Moreover, Odisha has had Operational Guidelines for Data Center Policy in place since 2022. Readers would recall that plans for a CLS in Puri were first announced by the state government as far back as in December 2022.
But now, driven by growth in neighbouring states like Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, Odisha is also actively attracting private national and international players. However, interest has been limited so far. Only CtrlS has made any significant investment in the state with the construction of an Edge data center in Odisha’s capital Bhubaneshwar.
