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Carnegie Mellon to withdraw from Sankhya Vahini project

US-based Carnegie Mellon University has decided to withdraw its proposal to set up a mammoth Rs 10-billion next-generation network called Sankhya Vahini in collaboration with the Indian government alleging red tapism, sources familiar with the project said.

The decision to withdraw from the controversial project which held the promise to revolutionise data transmission, Internet usage and other aspects of IT in India was conveyed on behalf of Carnegie Mellon University by Dr V S Arunachalam, president of IUNet Inc. (which was set up for the project at Carnegie Mellon), to telecom secretary Shyamal Ghosh, the sources said.

He is also understood to have informed Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee of this development, they said.

In his communication to Ghosh, Arunachalam said "even almost two years after the Cabinet approval, the project has not been sanctioned. Two years in information technology is considered a lifetime," according to the sources.

"Similar projects in other parts of the world that were not even on the drawing board when we made our original proposal are now in commercial operation and are being upgraded to higher performance levels," Arunachalam said.

Arunachalam said that IUNet, the university, and the potential investors for this project were now reluctant to invest any more of their resources in this project.

"We, therefore, very much regret to inform you of our decision to withdraw," he added.

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