12:45 PM -- With the country's first Government Radio Network (GRN) project secured, Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT) is looking for further Terrestrial Trunked Radio (Tetra) action in India.

In partnership with local ICT player HCL Infosystems Ltd. , Motorola was awarded the prestigious New Delhi GRN project late last year in a deal valued at 1 billion Indian rupees (US$21.4 million).

The network is being constructed, under a build, own, and operate model, in time to provide intra-government communications during the Commonwealth Games, which take place in the capital in October.

The network comprises 46 base stations, which are due to be up and running by the end of July. Motorola is also implementing end-to-end encryption to ensure secure communications.

"We are looking at doubling our turnover from Tetra projects in the country," says Subodh Vardhan, director, sales and country head, government and public safety, at Motorola India. In addition the vendor will be "increasing our workforce from 20 to around 50 to cater to an increased demand," Vardhan tells Light Reading Asia.

The company has sold around 15,000 Tetra terminals during the past four years, and is looking to double that number in the next two years.

For the New Delhi GNR, Motorola will lease out 5,010 radios for two months for use during the Commonwealth Games. After the sporting event, the Delhi Government will purchase 4,622 radios and will continue to use the network for administrative purposes.

In the past year there have been a number of other Tetra deals in India, with Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Bangalore airports all deploying Tetra systems. And now the Mumbai Government is also looking at deploying a Tetra-based communications network.

— Gagandeep Kaur, India Editor, Light Reading