Date: 02/07/2026
Board Meeting Outcomes
- The company disclosed empanelment with National Informatics Centre Services Incorporated (NICSI) for Comprehensive ICT Infrastructure Audit services
- Empanelment validity extended until 30 June 2029
- All compliance conditions for empanelment were completed on 02/07/2026
Contract Details
Empanelment Terms
- Empanelment Reference: RFE No. NICSI/ICT Infrastructure Audit/2025/17
- Initial validity: Three years from issuance date (until 30.06.2029)
- Extendable by up to two additional years based on mutual agreement
Approved Rate Structure
| Category Type | Per Unit Cost (₹) |
| Category I | 1,050 |
| Category II | 1,250 |
| Category III | 2,350 |
| Category IV | 2,600 |
| Category V | 2,890 |
| Category VI | 22,000 |
- Taxes (GST etc.) payable extra as applicable
- No TA/DA and incidental expenses applicable for any assignment
Scope of Work
Audit Coverage
- Comprehensive ICT Infrastructure Audit of Central Ministries/Departments located at Bhawans and State Governments/UTs/Districts
- National/State Data Centres security audits
- Target infrastructure: 60,000 ICT nodes (±25%) and 40,000 National Data Centre assets (±25%)
Asset Categorization
- Class A Organizations/NDCs: >25,000 VMs provisioned on servers
- Class B Organizations/NDCs: ≥10,000 and ≤25,000 VMs
- Class C Organizations/NDCs: <10,000 VMs
Technical Scope Includes
- Network devices (routers, switches, Wi-Fi access points)
- Security solutions (firewalls, IPS, WAF, SSL offloaders, DDoS protection)
- Hosting environment (servers, VMs, containers, virtualization architecture)
- End points (desktops, laptops, network access devices)
- Physical & environmental security audit for data centres
- Cloud architecture review (VMware, OpenStack, Azure etc.)
- Vulnerability assessment and penetration testing
- Policy and process compliance review
Audit Timelines
| Period | Timeline Details | Deliverable |
| T0 | Issuance of PO/WO | N/A |
| T1 | T0 + 60 days | First level report by Auditor |
| T2 | T1 + 40 days | Re-validation checks after patching vulnerabilities |
| T3 | T2 + 15 days | Compliance verification |
| T4 | T3 + 5 days | Final closure Report and presentation |
Security Deposit Requirements
- Security Deposit: ₹60 lakhs in form of Bank Guarantee
- Submission within 30 calendar days of empanelment issuance
- Performance Bank Guarantee: 5% of Work Order value required within 15 days after WO award
Payment Terms
- 40% payment per site location upon completion of first iteration audit exercise
- Remaining 60% payment after successful completion of re-validation check and closure certificate
- Payments subject to TDS deduction as per Income Tax Act, 1961
Penalty Structure
Service Level Agreement Penalties
- Accuracy rate ≥98%: No penalty
- Accuracy rate ≥85% but <98%: 5% of WO value
- Accuracy rate ≥75% but <85%: 10% of WO value
- Repeated cases: Cancellation of empanelment and forfeiture of Security Deposit/PBG
Other Penalties
- ICT infrastructure compromise due to undiscovered vulnerabilities: 25% of WO value
- Delay in audit execution: 2% of WO value per week delay (max 10%)
- Sub-contracting/data theft/confidentiality breach: ₹5,00,000 penalty plus legal action
Compliance Requirements
Resource Requirements
- Minimum deployment: 1 Senior Cyber Security Auditor + 2 Junior Cyber Security Auditors for large sites
- Senior Auditor qualifications: Minimum 4 years experience, CISSP/CISM/CISA/OSCP/OSCE/ISCP/ISO 27001 certification
- Junior Auditor qualifications: Minimum 1 year experience, CEH/CISM/CISA/ISO 27001 certification
Documentation Requirements
- Non-Disclosure Agreement execution within 1 week of work order receipt
- Background checks for all cybersecurity audit resources
- Compliance with Official Secrets Act, 1923
Geographical Coverage
Central Ministries/Departments
- Coverage includes 50+ central ministries and departments located across various Bhawans in Delhi
- Includes critical infrastructure like North Block, South Block, Sanchar Bhawan, Udyog Bhawan, etc.
States/UTs Coverage
- All 28 states and 8 union territories of India
- Includes district-level infrastructure across all states
National Data Centres
- NDC Shastri Park New Delhi
- NDC Hyderabad
- NDC Bhubaneshwar
- NDC Pune
- NDC Guwahati
Contractual Terms
Termination Clauses
- NICSI may terminate for insolvency, dissolution, or breach of contract terms
- Termination for convenience with 3 months prior written notice
- Blacklisting by any government organization leads to immediate empanelment cancellation
Dispute Resolution
- Arbitration through India International Arbitration Centre, Delhi
- Applicable for disputes up to ₹10 crores
- Courts in Delhi have exclusive jurisdiction