Lok Sabha Question No. 195 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-11-16
Subject: Bharat Net Project
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: JAYAKUMAR JAYAVARDHAN, SUNIL KUMAR SINGH, JAY PRAKASH NARAYAN YADAV, PRATHAP SIMHA, K. MARAGATHAM, Y. S. AVINASH REDDY, SHOBHA KARANDLAJE

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.195 TO BE ANSWERED ON 16 TH  NOVEMBER, 2016

## BHARAT NET PROJECT

195. DR. J. JAYAVARDHAN:

SHRI SUNIL KUMAR SINGH: SHRI JAI PRAKASH NARAYAN YADAV: SHRI PRATHAP SIMHA: SHRIMATI K. MARAGATHAM: SHRI Y.S. AVINASH REDDY: KUMARI SHOBHA KARANDLAJE:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) the  status  of  Bharat  Net  Project  and  the  number  of  Panchayats  connected  with National Optical Fibre Network so far, state-wise including Jharkhand;
- (b) whether the project is lagging behind the target and suffering from acute shortfall in utilisation of funds allocated for the purpose;
- (c) if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor along with the other difficulties being faced in implementation of this project;
- (d) the time-line set for connecting all the targeted gram panchayats with Bharat Net and the manner in which co-ordination with State Governments has been set for monitoring the progress; and
- (e) whether any skilled manpower pool has been prepared in this regard and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

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

- (a) to (c) Status of BharatNet project in Phase-I (as on 06.11.2016):

| Items              | Achieved   |
|--------------------|------------|
| Connectivity (GPs) | 12,597     |
| OFC laid (Km)      | 1,43,445   |

The State-wise status of BharatNet is enclosed at Annexure.

On 30.04.2016, Telecom Commission accorded approval to implement the project in three phases:

Phase-I

- -1,00,000 Gram Panchayats (GPs ) under implementation. Being executed by  3  Central  Public  Sector  Under  takings  (CPSUs)  viz.  Bharat  Sanchar Nigam  Limited  (BSNL),  RailTel  and  Power  Gird  Corporation  of  India Limited (PGCIL) targeted to be completed by March 2017.

- Phase-II -Balance GPs using an optimal mix of underground/aerial OFC, radio and satellite media. To be implemented by involving CPSEs, State Governments, state PSUs and Private Sector targeted to be completed by September 2018.
- Phase-III -Future  proofing  of  the  network  with  ring  topology  to  be  used  between districts and blocks; and blocks and Gram Panchyats (GPs).

BharatNet  project  is  a  unique  project  unprecedented  in  scope,  scale  and  range,  to connect all the Gram Panchayats (approx. 2,50,000) widely dispersed across the country. In the  first  phase,  around  2.2  Lakh  km  of  Optical  Fibre  Cable  (OFC)  is  to  be  laid  to  connect 1,00,000 GPs by March, 2017.

The implementation required survey of terrain and the proposed OFC path to connect Gram Panchayats. The incremental fibre laid on the basis of the survey is to be connected to existing fibre.

Field survey of massive nature across rural areas was required. Location of existing fibre is also a challenge. Other difficulties faced in the implementation of the project are as follows:

- (i) Involvement of multiple agencies, Department of Telecommunications, Bharat Broadband  Network  Limited  (BBNL),  (CPSUs)/  Central  /  State  Agencies  / contractors etc. and hence requires inter-agency co-ordination for resolution of implementation issues.
- (ii) Procurement and supply related issues.
- (iii) Challenges  faced  in  awarding  contracts  because  of  various  reasons  viz. difficult  areas  Hilly,  Rocky,  Left  Wing  Extremist  (LWE),  limited  number  of Trenching & laying contractors, Schedule of Rates (SoR) of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), High rates quoted by contractors.
- (iv) Lengthy  procedures  for  Right  of  Way  (ROW)  permission  from  National Highways Authority  of  India (NHAI), Forest, Oil & Gas companies etc.
- (v) Unavailability of Gram Panchayat/Government building in some states.

In spite of above constraints, a total of 1,43,445 km of optical fibre cable has been laid till 06.11.2016.

(d)    1,00,000 Gram Panchayats in the country are targeted to be connected in phase-I by March 2017. Remaining GPs are targeted to be connected by September 2018 under  phaseII.  Phase-II  will  be  implemented  by  involving  CPSUs,  State  Government,  State  PSUs  and Private Sector. An optimal mix of underground, aerial OFC, radio and satellite media will be used.    In Phase-II of the project it is envisaged to lay aerial OFC on electricity lines also. For laying of aerial OFC cable, States have to do the survey and Geographic Information System (GIS)  mapping  of  their  electricity  lines,  with  funding  from  USOF.  13  States  have  so  far submitted their plan for survey/GIS mapping of their power lines.

(e)     Presently, the project is being implemented through three CPSUs viz. BSNL, RailTel and Powergrid which already have sufficient skilled manpower for this work.

Contd…3/-

## Statewise status of NOFN (BharatNet) as on  06.11.2016

## Annexure

| S.No.   | States/ UTs          | No. of Gram Panchayats (GPs)- Phase I   | Pipe laid (kms.)   | Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) laid (in kms)   | No. of GPs where OFC laid   | Connectivity provided (GPs )   |
|---------|----------------------|-----------------------------------------|--------------------|-------------------------------------------|-----------------------------|--------------------------------|
| 1       | Assam                | 1013                                    | 2252               | 2088                                      | 770                         | 243                            |
| 2       | Bihar                | 5202                                    | 8786               | 7615                                      | 2891                        | 333                            |
| 3       | Chhattisgarh         | 2110                                    | 5392               | 5147                                      | 1724                        | 943                            |
| 4.      | Haryana              | 6090                                    | 6257               | 6244                                      | 3871                        | 296                            |
| 5.      | Jammu & Kashmir      | 624                                     | 253                | 240                                       | 118                         | 0                              |
| 6.      | Karnataka            | 5599                                    | 10383              | 10764                                     | 5256                        | 4826                           |
| 7.      | Kerala               | 977                                     | 720                | 826                                       | 1129                        | 1129                           |
| 8.      | Madhya Pradesh       | 10516                                   | 23760              | 21458                                     | 7141                        | 629                            |
| 9.      | Maharashtra          | 12055                                   | 17623              | 15471                                     | 6999                        | 842                            |
| 10.     | Punjab               | 6128                                    | 6471               | 6213                                      | 4290                        | 70                             |
| 11.     | Rajasthan            | 6967                                    | 15980              | 15005                                     | 4834                        | 810                            |
| 12.     | Uttar Pradesh        | 22514                                   | 35083              | 26645                                     | 12406                       | 920                            |
| 13.     | Uttarakhand          | 1767                                    | 2141               | 1857                                      | 1006                        | 216                            |
| 14.     | West Bengal          | 2713                                    | 2641               | 2534                                      | 920                         | 107                            |
| 15.     | Andaman & Nicobar    | 69                                      | 0                  | 0                                         | 0                           | 0                              |
| 16.     | Chandigarh           | 12                                      | 18                 | 19                                        | 12                          | 12                             |
| 17.     | Arunachal Pradesh    | 256                                     | 693                | 117                                       | 22                          | 0                              |
| 18.     | Nagaland             | 743                                     | 2171               | 818                                       | 194                         | 0                              |
| 19.     | Manipur              | 24                                      | 71                 | 73                                        | 24                          | 26                             |
| 20.     | Mizoram              | 163                                     | 448                | 123                                       | 5                           | 0                              |
| 21.     | Tripura              | 1021                                    | 1560               | 1368                                      | 641                         | 79                             |
| 22.     | Meghalaya            | 651                                     | 1133               | 277                                       | 80                          | 0                              |
| 23.     | Gujarat              | 5771                                    | 7969               | 6308                                      | 2859                        | 320                            |
| 24.     | Puducherry           | 98                                      | 82                 | 92                                        | 98                          | 101                            |
| 25.     | Andhra Pradesh       | 0                                       | 1913               | 21                                        | 0                           | 0                              |
| 26.     | Telangana            | 2097                                    | 4266               | 4043                                      | 1818                        | 127                            |
| 27.     | Odisha               | 3388                                    | 5801               | 4962                                      | 2091                        | 335                            |
| 28.     | Jharkhand            | 1428                                    | 3046               | 2920                                      | 1202                        | 233                            |
| 29.     | Himachal Pradesh     | 283                                     | 288                | 196                                       | 62                          | 0                              |
| 30.     | Daman & Diu          | 0                                       | 0                  | 0                                         | 0                           | 0                              |
| 31.     | Dadra & Nagar Haveli | 0                                       | 0                  | 0                                         | 0                           | 0                              |
| 32.     | Sikkim               | 0                                       | 0                  | 0                                         | 0                           | 0                              |
| 33.     | Lakshadweep          | 10                                      | 0                  | 0                                         | 0                           | 0                              |
| 34.     | Tamil Nadu           | 0                                       | 0                  | 0                                         | 0                           | 0                              |
| 35.     | Goa*                 | -                                       | -                  | -                                         | -                           | -                              |
| Grand   | Total                | 1,00,289                                | 1,67,202           | 1,43,445                                  | 62,463                      | 12,597                         |

*All the GPs of Goa are already connected with Optical Fibre.

************