Lok Sabha Question No. 1500 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-12-27
Subject: Telecom Services in Naxal Affected Areas
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: KAMLA DEVI PATLE

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1500 TO BE ANSWERED ON 27 TH      DECEMBER, 2017

## TELECOM SERVICES IN NAXAL AFFECTED AREAS

†1500. SHRIMATI KAMLA DEVI PAATLE:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of the schemes prepared by the Government for extension of telecommunication services in tribal and Naxal affected areas of the country;
- (b) the target fixed and achieved for providing telecommunication services, State-wise/UTwise;
- (c) the funds allocated/spent by the Government in this regard; and
- (d) the action plan chalked out and the target fixed by the Government under the 12th Five Year Plan for expansion of telecommunication services?

## ANSWER

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

(a)  to  (d)    Following  projects  have  been/are  being  implemented  by  the  Government  for extension of telecommunication services in tribal and Naxal affected areas of the country.

- (i)    Mobile  Communication  Services  in  Left  Wing  Extremism  (LWE)  affected  areas: Government had approved a project for the installation of mobile towers in 2355 locations in 10 Left  Wing  Extremism  (LWE)  affected States i.e. Andhra  Pradesh,  Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand,  Maharashtra,  Madhya  Pradesh,  Odisha,  Telangana,  Uttar  Pradesh  and  West Bengal. As on date, Government has installed 2,336 mobile towers in 10 Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected States. Rs. 1918.24 crore has been allocated during last three and half years for this project and Rs. 1797.23 crore has been spent till now. State-wise list is at Annexure-I.

(ii)  Comprehensive Telecom Development Plan for the North-Eastern Region (NER): On 10.09.2014,  the  Government  approved  a  proposal  to  implement  a  Comprehensive  Telecom Development  Plan  for  the  North-Eastern  Region  (NER)  to  provide  mobile  coverage  to  8621 identified  uncovered  villages  and  along  National  Highways  with  an  estimated  cost  of  Rs. 5336.18 crore. Project is targeted to be completed by March, 2019. State-wise details are at Annexure-II.

(iii)  Comprehensive  Telecom  Development  Plan  for  Andaman  &  Nicobar  Islands  and Lakshadweep  Islands: Comprehensive  Telecom  Development  Plan to provide mobile coverage in 172 uncovered villages and along National Highways and to augment the Satellite Bandwidth for Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep with a total estimated cost of Rs 487.35 Crore is being implemented. The project is targeted to be completed by March, 2019.

The  Government  has  also  approved  a  proposal  on  21.09.2016  for  provision  of Submarine Optical Fibre Cable Connectivity between Mainland (Chennai) and Port Blair and to five other islands namely Car Nicobar, Little Andaman, Havelock, Kamorta and Great Nicobar Islands of Andaman & Nicobar Islands with a Capital Expenditure (CAPEX) of Rs. 880.03 Crore. Notice Inviting Tender (NIT) has been floated on 07.07.2017 and the project is targeted to be completed by March, 2019.

(iv)  BharatNet: BharatNet is being implemented in a phased manner for providing broadband connectivity to all Gram Panchayats (approx. 2,50,000) in the country with total project cost of Rs. 42,068 Crore which includes Rs. 11,148 Crore for Phase-I and Rs. 30,920 crore for Phase-II and  other  activities.  State-wise  details  are  at Annexure-III. The  project  aims  to  provide minimum 100 Mbps broadband connection in every Gram Panchayat (GPs). As on date,  87836 GPs are service ready. The project is targeted to be completed by March, 2019.

## Annexure-I

## State-wise list of mobile towers installed in LWE affected areas

| S. No.   | State          |   No. of Total Locations identified by MHA |   No. of Mobile Towers Installed |
|----------|----------------|--------------------------------------------|----------------------------------|
| 1.       | Andhra Pradesh |                                         62 |                               60 |
| 2.       | Bihar          |                                        250 |                              250 |
| 3.       | Chhattisgarh   |                                        532 |                              520 |
| 4.       | Jharkhand      |                                        816 |                              816 |
| 5.       | Maharashtra    |                                         65 |                               65 |
| 6.       | Madhya Pradesh |                                         22 |                               22 |
| 7.       | Odisha         |                                        261 |                              256 |
| 8.       | Telangana      |                                        173 |                              173 |
| 9.       | Uttar Pradesh  |                                         78 |                               78 |
| 10.      | West Bengal    |                                         96 |                               96 |
| Total    | Total          |                                       2355 |                             2336 |

## The State-wise details of Comprehensive Telecom Development for NER:

| Sl. N o   | States            | Mobile Coverage of Uncovered villages in NER   | Mobile Coverage of Uncovered villages in NER   | Mobile Coverage of Uncovered villages in NER   | Mobile Coverage along National Highway in NER   | Mobile Coverage along National Highway in NER   | Transmission Media Plan in NER       | Transmission Media Plan in NER         | Consoli dated             |
|-----------|-------------------|------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------|----------------------------------------|---------------------------|
|           | States            | No. of uncovere d villages                     | No. of Tower Planned to be installed           | Total Cost (Rs. In Crore)                      | No. of Towers planned to be installed           | Total Cost (Rs. in Crore)                       | Total length of OFC to be laid (kms) | Total cost (Rs. in Crore) (OFC & Eqpt) | Total Cost (Rs. in Crore) |
| 1         | Arunachal Pradesh | 2805                                           | 1893                                           | 1298.82                                        | 149                                             | 126.64                                          | 1587                                 | 136.44                                 | 1561.90                   |
| 2         | Assam             | 2503                                           | 1874                                           | 1489.57                                        | 33                                              | 27.53                                           | 228                                  | 25.09                                  | 1542.19                   |
| 3         | Manipur           | 528                                            | 384                                            | 291.52                                         | 53                                              | 44.21                                           | 172                                  | 16.31                                  | 352.04                    |
| 4         | Meghalay a        | 2374                                           | 2162                                           | 1368.44                                        | 11                                              | 9.18                                            | 124                                  | 12.77                                  | 1390.39                   |
| 5         | Mizoram           | 252                                            | 227                                            | 201.37                                         | 19                                              | 15.85                                           | 747                                  | 65.26                                  | 282.48                    |
| 6         | Nagaland          | 134                                            | 112                                            | 99.47                                          | 48                                              | 40.04                                           | 154                                  | 17.57                                  | 157.08                    |
| 7         | Tripura           | 2                                              | 2                                              | 2.54                                           | 7                                               | 5.84                                            | 76                                   | 10.98                                  | 19.36                     |
| 8         | Sikkim            | 23                                             | 19                                             | 18.36                                          | 1                                               | 0.83                                            | 126                                  | 11.55                                  | 30.74                     |
|           | Total             | 8621                                           | 6673                                           | 4770.08                                        | 321                                             | 270.13                                          | 3213                                 | 295.97                                 | 5336.18                   |

## Annexure-II

Annexure-III State-wise status of NOFN (BharatNet) as on 17.12.2017

| S.No        | States/ UTs          | No. of Gram Panchayats (GPs)- Phase I   | Pipe laid (kms.)   | Cable laid (in kms)   | No. of GPs where Pipe laid   | No. of GPs where Cable laid   | Service Ready GPs   |
|-------------|----------------------|-----------------------------------------|--------------------|-----------------------|------------------------------|-------------------------------|---------------------|
| 1           | Assam                | 1533                                    | 3998               | 4196                  | 1436                         | 1363                          | 1219                |
| 2           | Bihar                | 5754                                    | 13086              | 13270                 | 5267                         | 4927                          | 4525                |
| 3           | Chhattisgarh         | 4104                                    | 11616              | 10290                 | 3689                         | 3389                          | 2411                |
| 4.          | Haryana              | 6020                                    | 10430              | 11005                 | 5988                         | 5930                          | 5594                |
| 5.          | Jammu & Kashmir      | 388                                     | 507                | 494                   | 252                          | 240                           | 161                 |
| 6.          | Karnataka            | 6092                                    | 12381              | 12935                 | 6065                         | 6062                          | 6057                |
| 7.          | Kerala               | 977                                     | 720                | 830                   | 1129                         | 1129                          | 1129                |
| 8.          | Madhya Pradesh       | 12655                                   | 36579              | 35575                 | 12489                        | 11879                         | 8088                |
| 9.          | Maharashtra          | 15301                                   | 28101              | 28887                 | 13406                        | 12924                         | 12004               |
| 10.         | Punjab               | 8049                                    | 10797              | 11046                 | 7551                         | 7244                          | 3258                |
| 11.         | Rajasthan            | 8194                                    | 22549              | 22402                 | 7515                         | 7494                          | 7484                |
| 12.         | Uttar Pradesh        | 27974                                   | 52988              | 52998                 | 26935                        | 25334                         | 24090               |
| 13.         | Uttarakhand          | 1863                                    | 2974               | 2968                  | 1549                         | 1463                          | 1325                |
| 14.         | West Bengal          | 2637                                    | 5810               | 5374                  | 2014                         | 1921                          | 1705                |
| 15.         | Andaman & Nicobar    | 69                                      | 12                 | 0                     | 11                           | 0                             | 0                   |
| 16.         | Chandigarh           | 12                                      | 18                 | 19                    | 12                           | 12                            | 13                  |
| 17.         | Arunachal Pradesh    | 863                                     | 1559               | 1079                  | 622                          | 398                           | 14                  |
| 18.         | Nagaland             | 994                                     | 2644               | 1774                  | 837                          | 544                           | 61                  |
| 19.         | Manipur              | 904                                     | 554                | 478                   | 247                          | 224                           | 71                  |
| 20.         | Mizoram              | 763                                     | 758                | 524                   | 138                          | 91                            | 18                  |
| 21.         | Tripura              | 1021                                    | 1706               | 1680                  | 841                          | 816                           | 455                 |
| 22.         | Meghalaya            | 1208                                    | 1269               | 557                   | 454                          | 213                           | 72                  |
| 23.         | Gujarat              | 6905                                    | 12351              | 11788                 | 5592                         | 5216                          | 3231                |
| 24.         | Puducherry           | 98                                      | 82                 | 92                    | 98                           | 98                            | 101                 |
| 25.         | Andhra Pradesh       | 1673                                    | 2965               | 766                   | 693                          | 283                           | 0                   |
| 26.         | Telangana            | 2017                                    | 4539               | 4488                  | 2038                         | 2038                          | 1729                |
| 27.         | Odisha               | 3860                                    | 9319               | 8882                  | 3283                         | 3227                          | 1567                |
| 28.         | Jharkhand            | 2713                                    | 5664               | 5240                  | 2123                         | 1943                          | 1298                |
| 29.         | Himachal Pradesh     | 252                                     | 595                | 553                   | 180                          | 178                           | 156                 |
| 30.         | Daman & Diu          | 15                                      | 11                 | 7                     | 10                           | 05                            | 0                   |
| 31.         | Dadra & Nagar Haveli | 20                                      | 0                  | 0                     | 0                            | 0                             | 0                   |
| 32.         | Sikkim               | 52                                      | 0                  | 0                     | 0                            | 0                             | 0                   |
| 33.         | Lakshadweep          | 10                                      | 0                  | 0                     | 0                            | 0                             | 0                   |
| 34.         | Tamil Nadu           | 0                                       | 0                  | 0                     | 0                            | 0                             | 0                   |
| 35.         | Goa*                 | -                                       | -                  | -                     | -                            | -                             | -                   |
| Grand Total |                      | 124990                                  | 256582             | 250197                | 112464                       | 106585                        | 87836               |

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