Lok Sabha Question No. 73 (STARRED), answered on 2018-02-07
Subject: BharatNet Project
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: VINAYAK BHAURAO RAUT, SHRIKANT EKNATH SHINDE

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK  SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 73 TO BE ANSWERED ON 7 th  FEBRUARY, 2018

## BHARATNET PROJECT

- *73. SHRI VINAYAK BHAURAO RAUT: DR. SHRIKANT EKNATH SHINDE:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the BharatNet Project has been  launched to connect all  Gram Panchayats to provide high speed internet services in the country and if so, the details including the salient features thereof;
- (b) whether the Government has completed the phase-I of the said project and if so, the details thereof including the number of Gram Panchayats that have been connected through Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) under the said phase during each of the last three years and the current year, State/UT-wise;
- (c) the  funds  earmarked/allocated  and  spent  by  the  Government under  phase-I of the said project, State/UT-wise;
- (d) whether  the  Government  has  launched  the  second  phase  of  the  BharatNet Project  and  if  so,  the  details  thereof  including  the  number  of  Gram  Panchayats  that have been connected through OFC in this phase, State/UT-wise and the timeline fixed for  the  completion  of  the  said  phase  along  with  the  time  by  which  all  the  Gram Panchayats are proposed to be provided with high speed internet services; and
- (e) whether the Government  proposes  to provide digital board  and internet connectivity  in  all  schools  through  the  aforementioned  project  and  if  so,  the  details thereof along with the internet penetration rate in the country?

## ANSWER

THE MINISTER OF STATE (IC) OF THE MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS & MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS (SHRI MANOJ SINHA)

- (a) to (e) A statement is laid on the table of the House.

## STATEMENT  TO  BE  LAID  ON  THE  TABLE  OF  LOK  SABHA  IN  RESPECT  OF PARTS  (a)  to  (e)  OF  LOK  SABHA  STARRED  QUESTION  NO.  *73  FOR  7 TH FEBRUARY, 2018 ON 'BHARATNET PROJECT'.

- (a) Yes,  Madam.  BharatNet  Project  (initially  National  Optical  Fibre  Network)  has been launched to connect all Gram Panchayats (approx. 2,50,000) by broadband in the country. The salient features of the project are as follows:
- i. The infrastructure created by BharatNet is a national asset and nondiscriminatory access to Service Providers is to be provided under the project.
- ii. The project  is  being  implemented  in  a  phased  manner.  The  implementation of Phase I to connect 1,00,000 Gram Panchayats (GPs) is through three Central Public Sector Undertakings (CPSUs) viz. Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), RailTel and Powergrid. BharatNet Phase II approved by the Cabinet on July 19, 2017 to connect remaining (approx. 1,50,000) GPs is being implemented.
- iii. A Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) viz. Bharat Broadband Network Limited (BBNL) was setup to establish, manage & operate the BharatNet infrastructure.
- iv. The total cost of BharatNet to connect all GPs (approx. 2,50,000) approved by the Cabinet on July 19, 2017 is Rs 42,068 crore.
- (b) Yes, Madam. BharatNet Phase I to connect 1,00,000 GPs has been completed. In Phase I, as on 28.01.2018 a total of 1,11,084 GPs have been connected by Optical Fibre  Cable  (OFC)  and  1,02,326  GPs  are  Service  Ready.  The  State/Union  Territory (UT)  -wise  status  of  GPs  connected  through  Optical  Fibre  Cable  (OFC)  is  given  in Annexure-I.
- (c) An amount of Rs 11,148 crore was approved for BharatNet Phase I, out of this Rs 10,286 crore has been allocated to BBNL. Implementation of Phase I is being done through  three  CPSUs,  to  whom  the  funds  are  provided  in  accordance  with  their spending;  upto  January,  2017,  a  sum  of  Rs  9,027  crore  has  been  spent  in  the BharatNet Phase I. The State/ UT-wise funds spent is given in Annexure-II .
- (d) Yes, Madam. The Government has launched the second phase of the BharatNet Project. On  19.07.2017, the Union  Cabinet approved  a modified strategy for implementing BharatNet under which, the remaining 1,50,000 (approx.) Gram Panchayats (GPs) in the country are to be provided broadband connectivity in Phase-II of  the  project.  Telecom  Commission  on  08.09.2017,  29.09.2017  and  21.12.2017  has approved  the  implementation  plans  for  States.  BharatNet  Phase  II,  which  includes providing broadband connectivity to all GPs is to be  completed by March 2019.  The salient features of the BharatNet Phase-II are as follows:
- i. The implementation is to be done through State Model, Private Sector Model and CPSU Model.
- ii. Optimal mix of media (OFC, Radio and satellite) to be used to connect GPs.
- iii. Service delivery mechanism by providing last mile connectivity, through WiFi or any other suitable broadband technology to all GPs  has been made an integral part of the project.

Contd……..3/-

(e) BharatNet is being implemented to provide broadband connectivity to the Gram Panchayats. Under the project model, the service delivery is proposed through Service Providers. The State Government and/or the Departments of Central Government are to provide connectivity to the Government institutions, including connectivity for digital board and internet connectivity at GP level. However, all necessary facilitation for such connectivity is to be made by BBNL/ USOF/ DOT.

The  internet  penetration  in  the  country,  as  on  30 th September,  2017,  is  33.22 subscribers per 100 population.

Contd…….4/-

Annexure-I State/UT-wise number of GPs connected through Optical Fibre Cable (OFC)

| State               |   2014-15 |   2015-16 |   2016-17 |   2017-18 (As on 28.01.2018) |
|---------------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|------------------------------|
| Assam               |       193 |       489 |       568 |                          185 |
| Bihar               |       412 |      1956 |      1845 |                          993 |
| Chhattisgarh        |       422 |      1123 |       317 |                         1972 |
| Haryana             |       997 |      2111 |      1918 |                          931 |
| Jammu & Kashmir     |         0 |        82 |       111 |                           56 |
| Karnataka           |      2098 |      2905 |       726 |                          342 |
| Kerala              |      1022 |       107 |         0 |                            0 |
| Madhya Pradesh      |       547 |      4459 |      6077 |                          904 |
| Maharashtra         |       669 |      3969 |      6307 |                         2768 |
| Punjab              |       234 |      2743 |      2989 |                         1447 |
| Rajasthan           |      1347 |      2321 |      2528 |                         1934 |
| Uttar Pradesh       |      1441 |      6992 |     13364 |                         4850 |
| Uttarakhand         |       204 |       434 |       809 |                           21 |
| West Bengal         |       159 |       563 |       723 |                          628 |
| Sikkim              |         0 |         0 |         0 |                           12 |
| Andaman & Nicobar   |         0 |         0 |         0 |                            0 |
| Chandigarh          |        11 |         1 |         0 |                            0 |
| Lakshadweep         |         0 |         0 |         0 |                            0 |
| Arunachal Pradesh   |         0 |        18 |        77 |                          328 |
| Nagaland            |         0 |       142 |       216 |                          198 |
| Manipur             |         0 |        24 |        28 |                          217 |
| Mizoram             |         0 |         0 |        50 |                           44 |
| Tripura             |        75 |       417 |       268 |                           56 |
| Tamil Nadu          |         0 |         0 |         0 |                            0 |
| Meghalaya           |         0 |        52 |        87 |                          128 |
| Gujarat             |       343 |      1791 |      1889 |                         1347 |
| Daman & Diu         |         0 |         0 |         0 |                            5 |
| Dadar& Nagar Haveli |         0 |         0 |         0 |                            0 |
| Puducherry          |        86 |        12 |         0 |                            0 |
| Andhra Pradesh      |         0 |         0 |         0 |                          283 |
| Telangana           |        84 |      1301 |       570 |                           87 |
| Odisha              |       441 |       973 |      1222 |                          644 |
| Jharkhand           |       170 |       664 |       609 |                          598 |
| Himachal Pradesh    |         0 |        19 |       106 |                           79 |
| Total               |     10955 |     35668 |     43404 |                        21057 |

Contd…….5/-

ANNEXURE -II Details of funds  spent under Phase-I of the BharatNet project, State/ UT-wise

| S. No.   | State                                                                                                                                      | Amount in Rs.                                                                                                                              |
|----------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 1        | A & N                                                                                                                                      | 22219868                                                                                                                                   |
| 2        | Assam                                                                                                                                      | 1364168154                                                                                                                                 |
| 3        | Bihar                                                                                                                                      | 3563995444                                                                                                                                 |
| 4        | Chhattisgarh                                                                                                                               | 4122179521                                                                                                                                 |
| 5        | Haryana                                                                                                                                    | 2011858509                                                                                                                                 |
| 6        | J & K                                                                                                                                      | 533431796                                                                                                                                  |
| 7        | Karnataka                                                                                                                                  | 3182063333                                                                                                                                 |
| 8        | Kerala                                                                                                                                     | 597060814                                                                                                                                  |
| 9        | Maharashtra                                                                                                                                | 9989139273                                                                                                                                 |
| 10       | Madhya Pradesh                                                                                                                             | 10176592366                                                                                                                                |
| 11       | Punjab                                                                                                                                     | 3136390927                                                                                                                                 |
| 12       | Rajasthan                                                                                                                                  | 5147077233                                                                                                                                 |
| 13       | UP (East)                                                                                                                                  | 7674297319                                                                                                                                 |
| 14       | UP (West)                                                                                                                                  | 3583095001                                                                                                                                 |
| 15       | Uttarakhand                                                                                                                                | 1789319347                                                                                                                                 |
| 16       | West Bengal                                                                                                                                | 2503787459                                                                                                                                 |
| 17       | Sikkim                                                                                                                                     | 440268500                                                                                                                                  |
| 18       | Puducherry                                                                                                                                 | 42621150                                                                                                                                   |
| 19       | North East                                                                                                                                 | 2161200130                                                                                                                                 |
| 20       | Gujarat, D & N, Daman & Diu                                                                                                                | 2664618993                                                                                                                                 |
| 21       | Lakshadweep                                                                                                                                | 1034134                                                                                                                                    |
| 22       | Telangana                                                                                                                                  | 1792989383                                                                                                                                 |
| 23       | Odisha                                                                                                                                     | 3345163106                                                                                                                                 |
| 24       | Jharkhand                                                                                                                                  | 1316156479                                                                                                                                 |
| 25       | Himachal Pradesh                                                                                                                           | 768763301                                                                                                                                  |
| 26       | Andhra Pradesh                                                                                                                             | 965616954                                                                                                                                  |
| 27       | Tamil Nadu                                                                                                                                 | 108055326                                                                                                                                  |
|          | Total                                                                                                                                      | 73003163823                                                                                                                                |
|          | *Equipment and Others                                                                                                                      | 17268571923                                                                                                                                |
|          | Total                                                                                                                                      | 90271735746                                                                                                                                |
|          | Note:* Since procurement of equipment has been made by BBNL and three implementing CPSUs, this amount could not be bifurcated into States. | Note:* Since procurement of equipment has been made by BBNL and three implementing CPSUs, this amount could not be bifurcated into States. |

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