American defence major Raytheon today said it was in talks with Indian government to offer its expertise for setting up the Rs1,200-crore National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) project.
American defence major Raytheon today said it was in talks with Indian government to offer its expertise for setting up the Rs1,200-crore National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) project that will facilitate robust information-sharing among law enforcement agencies to combat terror threat.
Raytheon India President William L Blair said the company held several rounds of talks with the Chief Executive Officer of NATGRID Raghu Raman and other top officials of the Home Ministry to offer its expertise for the ambitious project on the lines of the similar infrastructure in Counter-Terrorism Centre in the US.
The US support for the project was also offered during a meeting of US Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano with Union Home Minister P Chidambaram in New Delhi late last month.
"We are working directly with the NATGRID CEO and the whole NATGRID team. There is a mandate to go forward and relevant information has been shared to the requirements that have been set. There has been a government-to-government dialogue also on this," Blair told PTI here at the Paris Air Show.
He said the US government is one of Raytheon's biggest customers as the company is involved in setting up of cyber intelligence network for America's Counter-Terrorism Centre and other similar infrastructures.
"What we have done in US National Counter-Terrorism Centre might be relevant to India's NATGRID. One of Raytheon's biggest customers is US government. They know our strength. We are ready to offer our technology to India in this area," Blair said, noting that the company will offer India the best technology which is in use.
The Home Ministry has set the ball rolling for establishing the Rs 1,200-crore ambitious project after getting approval from the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) earlier this month for first and second phases of the NATGRID, which is expected to be operational by January 2013.
The NATGRID is being set up to facilitate robust information-sharing by security agencies and law enforcement agencies to combat terror threat at home and abroad.
Blair said if Raytheon is involved in the project, it will tie up with an Indian IT company for developing various cyber support solutions.
"Companies that are meeting the requirement set by the Indian government are Wipro, TCS, HCL, Mahindra Satyam and Infosys," he said, refusing to share any more details about the possible partner in the venture.
The NATGRID will have access to about 21 categories of database like railway and air travel, income tax, bank account details, credit card transactions, visa and immigration
records.
The idea of setting up the NATGRID was floated after the November 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.
Many feel that had NATGRID existed, Lashkar-e-Taiba operative David Headley would not have had a free run prior and after the 26/11 strikes.
The entire project will be completed in three years.
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