Special Report

Published: Aug 31, 2022
Updated: Aug 31, 2022

Broadcast Engineering Consultants India: World-class broadcast services

Broadcast Engineering Consultants India Limited (BECIL), a mini ratna Central Public Sector Enterprise (CPSE), was incorporated on March 24, 1995 under the Companies Act, 2013 (the erstwhile Companies Act,1956) by the Government of India, with 100% equity share capital of BECIL held by the government.

The company was initially set up for providing project consultancy services and turnkey solutions encompassing the entire gamut of radio and television broadcast engineering, covering establishment of content production facilities and transmission facilities for terrestrial, satellite and cable broadcasting in India and abroad.

It has now diversified into strategic projects such as information communication technology, electronic surveillance (namely CCTV, access control, intrusion detection, fire safety, hydrants, etc.) and electronic media content, including films, sentinel analytics, and counter drones/UAVs. The company’s activities include supply, installation, testing & commissioning, consultancy services, technical audit, media analysis, R&D, projects pertaining to various areas covering Digital India, City Surveillance, Safe City, Smart City, Make in India, Made in India, manufacturing, audio, video & data analysis and cyber security. BECIL services include engineering procurement & construction, project management services, operation and maintenance, manpower placement, AMCs and providing total turnkey projects for critical information infrastructure.

BECIL has its head office in New Delhi, corporate office in Noida and regional office in Bengaluru and Kolkata. BECIL is exploring geographical expansion in many states due to the diversification in its business portfolios. George Kuruvilla - Chairman & M.D.

IN-HOUSE TALENT

Over the years, the company has consciously groomed and developed a team of in-house, versatile and dedicated engineers, and has also cultivated and harnessed a vast reservoir of professionals drawn from various fields of the broadcasting industry, which includes public and private broadcasters as well as the defense and cable industry. Through this network of resourceful technical professionals, BECIL has established a panIndia presence to serve the needs of the industry. BECIL has a vast reservoir of experts and integrates the expertise of All India Radio (AIR) and Doordarshan (DD), the national broadcasters, creating one of the largest radio networks catering to more than a billion people and the world’s largest terrestrial television network supplemented by analogue and digital satellite broadcasting services reaching out to millions of TV homes in India and abroad.

BECIL works as a consultancy agency, system integrator and turnkey solutions provider in the fields of Broadcast Engineering and Information & Communication Technology. The company’s client list includes government, semi-government, overseas and private organizations. It has many firsts to its credit, like establishment of the first teleport in India, the first to establish infrastructure, the first to set up multi-channel FM transmission in India combining up to 7 FM channels at Bengaluru, and the first to design and establish an HDTV studio set-up for the Presidential Secretariat and Lok Sabha TV.

VISION

To be a world-class consultancy organization recognised as a ‘brand’ in the specialised fields of Broadcast Engineering & Information Technology and related infrastructure development for total project solutions in India and abroad.

MISSION

To play a pivotal role in the modernisation and growth of radio and television broadcasting through terrestrial, cable and satellite transmission in India and abroad.

OBJECTIVES

i. To enhance the present share in the market by providing specialised and customised solutions to a wider range of clients.

ii. To provide technical inputs and consultancy to the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting in policy, regulatory & formulation of various papers pertaining to broadcasting.

iii. To explore opportunities in the overseas market.

iv. To conduct market surveys for product development.

v. To establish satellite uplink and downlink systems for TV channels and Distance Education Centres.

vi. To establish and maintain the operation of broadcasting centres.

vii. To train and provide broadcast professionals.

viii. To design, develop and manufacture specialised broadcast equipment.

ACTIVITIES

• Providing social media management services for various ministries and government departments.

• Monitoring and analytics services.

• CCTV surveillance, access control systems.

• Consultancy services for professional audio-visual services including annual maintenance contracts for installed sites.

• Conducting audits of the digital addressable system of distribution platform operators.

• Executing the following projects on behalf of the Ministry of I & B:

• Establishment of a cable TV monitoring cell in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

• Revamping and upgradation of the Broadcast Seva portal.

• Upgradation of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting website

• Executing important projects for various media units of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting

• Automation of the Office of the Registrar of Newspapers for India for development/ implementation of webenabled application software.

• Annual maintenance of the computerised inventory management system of the Directorate of Publications Division.

• Virtual hosting of the 52nd International Film Festival of India.

• IT modernisation and automation work for the Bureau of Outreach and Communication.

• Consultancy and turnkey solutions for FM broadcasting in India.

• For increasing its international presence and portfolio of services in the IT domain, BECIL has successfully completed the India-Syria Next Generation Centre of Excellence in Information Technology, which included supply, installation, commissioning and on-site warranty support of Information Technology hardware and software.

• Computer-based examinations for various departments.

• e-classroom projects.

• Community radio station (CRS) projects.

• Manpower placement post-deployment of employees.

HUGE MANPOWER

BECIL has completed 26 years of excellence in serving the nation and has deployed approximately 25,000 people and various professionals in the fields of HR, finance, marketing, etc., like technicians, engineers, technical assistants, programmers, advisors, consultants, data entry operators, MTS, peons, messengers, and unskilled, semi-skilled and skilled manpower. BECIL has been providing manpower to around 30 government organisations.

• Recent Strategic Projects

i. Drones-Cyber and aerospace security: BECIL is diversifying to undertake turnkey projects in drones and counter-drones while playing a pivotal role in the modernisation and growth of organisations and ensuring the completion of projects to the complete satisfaction of clients.

ii. BECIL digital forensic lab: In today’s complex national security environment, investigations more often require highly specialised and technical expertise. To better address these challenges, one of the policing capabilities that BECIL focuses on is digital forensics, a rapidly changing discipline which requires robust policies and procedures. In this regard a digital forensic laboratory at BECIL has been established.

The laboratory can take up computer forensics, mobile forensics, iOS and Android analysis, forensic data recovery, email forensics, Cloud and IoT forensics, CCTV forensics and drone rorensics. BECIL is assisting in building a national digital forensic capacity and developing evidence management processes to better support investigations and prosecutions.

Leading BECIL with elan

If BECIL has made rapid strides in recent years, the enlightened leadership of its farsighted and dynamic Chairman & Managing Director George Kuruvilla has played a significant role. Mr Kuruvilla is an Indian Broadcast Engineering Service officer of the 1987 batch. Before joining broadcasting services, he completed an M Tech in digital communication systems from IIT-Roorkee. He also successfully completed a one-year senior management course in corporate finance from IIM-Kolkata in 2009. After joining AIR in 1989 as Assistant Director, he was promoted as head of the Doordarshan (DD) TV station in Gangtok, Sikkim. He was subsequently posted to the Doordarshan headquarters at Mandi House, New Delhi, from 1997 to 2005. In 2007, he was posted to the Prasar Bharati Secretariat, New Delhi, and was attached to the Chief Executive Officer as OSD (Officer on Special Duty) till May 2019.

AIR-DD VETERAN

After serving 23 years in AIR and DD, he joined BECIL as General Manager in May 2012. He was responsible for prestigious projects like establishment of the Rajya Sabha TV channel and the Electronic Media Monitoring Centre for recording and monitoring of 600 TV channels for the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. In April 2016, he was appointed CMD of BECIL.