Lok Sabha Question No. 208 (STARRED), answered on 2016-11-30
Subject: Telecom Facility to Villages
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: GOWDAR MALLIKARJUNAPPA SIDDESHWARA, C.S. PUTTARAJU

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.208 TO BE ANSWERED ON 30 TH  NOVEMBER, 2016

## TELECOM FACILITY TO VILLAGES

- *208.  SHRI G.M. SIDDESHWARA: SHRI C.S. PUTTA RAJU:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether a large number of villages in the country are yet to be connected with telecom  facilities  particularly  mobile  telephones  and  if  so,  the  number  of  villages covered along with those yet to be covered with mobile telephones, State-wise;
- (b) the details of mobile towers and telephone exchanges installed and proposed to  be  installed  in  the  country  to  provide  telephone  connectivity  to  the  left  out villages/areas during the last three years and the current year, State-wise, separately in rural and urban areas;
- (c) the details of villages proposed to be covered with telephone facilities during the current Five Year Plan, State-wise; and
- (d) the  time  by  which  all  the  villages  are  proposed  to  be  covered  with  telecom facility and the action taken by the Government to achieve the target?

## 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) A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

## STATEMENT TO BE LAID ON THE TABLE OF THE LOK SABHA IN RESPECT OF PARTS (a)  TO  (d)  OF  LOK    SABHA  STARRED  QUESTION  NO.208    FOR  30 TH NOVEMBER, 2016 REGARDING 'TELECOM FACILITY TO VILLAGES'.

- (a) The Government is committed to provide a robust telecom service in all parts of the country including rural, backward & hilly areas. There are 55,669 villages (As per  a  survey  conducted  in  2014)  in  the  country  that  do  not  have  mobile  coverage. State-wise list of total inhabited villages and uncovered villages is at Annexure-I.
- (b) Details of number of towers in rural and urban areas are not being maintained separately by the Department of Telecommunication and no new telephone exchanges  has  been  installed  during  last  three  years  and  current  year.  However, Licensed  Service  Area  wise  details  of  Base  Transceiver  Stations  (BTSs)  installed during  the  last  three  financial  years  and  current  financial  year  (till  30.09.2016)  and total BTSs as on 30.09.2016 are at Annexure-II.
- (c)&(d) Mobile coverage to these uncovered villages is likely to be provided in a phased  manner,  subject  to  availability  of  financial  resources.  Government  has prioritized  to  provide  mobile  communication  services  in  uncovered  villages  in  LWE affected  areas,  North-Eastern  States,  Island  territories,  and  Himalayan  States  and Western Border States in the first phase, with financial support from USO Fund, as detailed below:
- (i) Government approved a proposal on 10.09.2014 to implement a Comprehensive  Telecom  Development  Plan  for  the  North-Eastern  Region  at  an estimated  expenditure  of  Rs.  5336.18  crore.  The  project  envisages  provision  of mobile  coverage  to  8621  identified  uncovered  villages,  installation  of  321  mobile tower sites along National Highways and strengthening of transmission network in the States  of  Arunachal  Pradesh,  Assam,  Manipur,  Meghalaya,  Mizoram,  Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura. State-wise details are enclosed as Annexure-III.
- (ii) Government, on 20.08.2014, approved a project to provide Mobile Services in 2199 locations in Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected areas in the states of Andhra Pradesh,  Bihar,  Chhattisgarh,  Jharkhand,  Maharashtra,  Madhya  Pradesh,  Odisha, Telangana,  Uttar  Pradesh  and  West  Bengal,  at  an  estimated  expenditure  of  Rs. 3567.58  crore.  The  project  is  being  executed  by  Bharat  Sanchar  Nigam  Limited (BSNL). 2186 mobile towers are radiating as on 21.11.2016. State-wise details are enclosed as Annexure-IV.
- (iii) Telecom  Commission  has  given  'in  principle'  approval  on  07.11.2014  for Comprehensive Telecom Development Plan including provision of mobile connectivity for  Andaman  &  Nicobar  Islands  and  Lakshadweep  Islands  with  the  total  estimated investment  of  Rs.  221.05  crores.  The  project  will  provide  mobile  communication  in 181  uncovered  villages  in  A&N  Islands  and  strengthen  the  communication  in  10 villages of Lakshadweep Islands.

Contd…3/-

## Annexure-I

## State-wise list of uncovered villages with mobile services (As per survey done in 2014 based on census 2011)

| S.No.   | Name of the State/UT   | Total number of inhabited villages   |   Number of Uncovered Villages |
|---------|------------------------|--------------------------------------|--------------------------------|
| 1.      | Andhra Pradesh         | 16335                                |                           3812 |
| 2.      | Arunachal Pradesh      | 5258                                 |                           2886 |
| 3.      | Assam                  | 25372                                |                           2885 |
| 4.      | Bihar                  | 39073                                |                           2534 |
| 5.      | Chhattisgarh           | 19567                                |                           4041 |
| 6.      | Goa                    | 320                                  |                             65 |
| 7.      | Gujarat                | 17843                                |                           1275 |
| 8.      | Haryana                | 6642                                 |                              2 |
| 9.      | Himachal Pradesh       | 17882                                |                           2416 |
| 10.     | Jammu & Kashmir        | 6337                                 |                            460 |
| 11.     | Jharkhand              | 29492                                |                           5949 |
| 12.     | Karnataka              | 27397                                |                              0 |
| 13.     | Kerala                 | 1017                                 |                              0 |
| 14.     | Madhya Pradesh         | 51929                                |                           5926 |
| 15.     | Maharashtra            | 40959                                |                           4792 |
| 16.     | Manipur                | 2515                                 |                            610 |
| 17.     | Meghalaya              | 6459                                 |                           2389 |
| 18.     | Mizoram                | 704                                  |                            258 |
| 19.     | Nagaland               | 1400                                 |                            137 |
| 20.     | Odisha                 | 47675                                |                          10398 |
| 21.     | Punjab                 | 12168                                |                             91 |
| 22.     | Rajasthan              | 43264                                |                            770 |
| 23.     | Sikkim                 | 425                                  |                             23 |
| 24.     | Tamil Nadu             | 15049                                |                            113 |
| 25.     | Telangana              | 10347                                |                           1009 |
| 26.     | Tripura                | 863                                  |                              2 |
| 27.     | Uttar Pradesh          | 97814                                |                            266 |
| 28.     | Uttarakhand            | 15745                                |                           1876 |
| 29.     | West Bengal            | 37469                                |                            487 |
| 30.     | Andaman & Nicobar      |                                      |                            190 |
| 31.     | Puducherry             | 684                                  |                              0 |
| 32.     | Dadra & Nagar Haveli   | 684                                  |                              5 |
| 33.     | Daman & Diu            | 684                                  |                              1 |
| 34.     | Lakshadweep            | 684                                  |                              1 |
|         | TOTAL                  | 597608                               |                          55669 |

Contd…4/-

## Annexure-II

| SN   | LSA Name             | Number of BTSs installed during last three financial years i.e. from 01.04.2013 to 31.03.2016   | Number of BTSs installed during current financial year i.e. from 01.04.2016 to 30.09.2016   | Total Number of BTSs as on 30.09.2016   |
|------|----------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------|
| 1    | Andhra Pradesh       | 32,331                                                                                          | 13,133                                                                                      | 1,05,716                                |
| 2    | Assam                | 8,486                                                                                           | 3,549                                                                                       | 26,024                                  |
| 3    | Bihar                | 12,620                                                                                          | 4,588                                                                                       | 61,180                                  |
| 4    | Delhi                | 29,652                                                                                          | 7,723                                                                                       | 67,244                                  |
| 5    | Gujarat              | 26,425                                                                                          | 7,443                                                                                       | 79,420                                  |
| 6    | Haryana              | 11,966                                                                                          | 3,278                                                                                       | 32,787                                  |
| 7    | Himachal Pradesh     | 4,168                                                                                           | 1,827                                                                                       | 13,001                                  |
| 8    | Jammu and Kashmir    | 5,701                                                                                           | 1,336                                                                                       | 17,977                                  |
| 9    | Karnataka            | 35,391                                                                                          | 13,016                                                                                      | 1,01,603                                |
| 10   | Kerala               | 20,649                                                                                          | 13,022                                                                                      | 66,180                                  |
| 11   | Kolkata              | 11,737                                                                                          | 4,104                                                                                       | 35,314                                  |
| 12   | Maharashtra          | 33,294                                                                                          | 13,229                                                                                      | 1,10,581                                |
| 13   | Madhya Pradesh       | 26,936                                                                                          | 4,537                                                                                       | 77,748                                  |
| 14   | Mumbai               | 14,056                                                                                          | 2,902                                                                                       | 44,159                                  |
| 15   | North East           | 6,266                                                                                           | 2,515                                                                                       | 16,731                                  |
| 16   | Odisha               | 10,135                                                                                          | 3,188                                                                                       | 34,032                                  |
| 17   | Punjab               | 16,935                                                                                          | 13,045                                                                                      | 56,722                                  |
| 18   | Rajasthan            | 17,021                                                                                          | 8,424                                                                                       | 60,642                                  |
| 19   | Tamil Nadu           | 35,732                                                                                          | 11,244                                                                                      | 1,13,885                                |
| 20   | Uttar Pradesh (East) | 26,846                                                                                          | 9,087                                                                                       | 81,140                                  |
| 21   | Uttar Pradesh (West) | 15,268                                                                                          | 7,475                                                                                       | 60,733                                  |
| 22   | West Bengal          | 10,027                                                                                          | 6,128                                                                                       | 46,130                                  |
|      | Grand Total          | 4,11,642                                                                                        | 1,54,793                                                                                    | 13,08,949                               |

Contd…5/-

## Mobile Towers proposed for uncovered villages and along National Highways in NER   :

| S.No.   | STATE             |   No. of Villages proposed to be covered |   Number of Towers Proposed for Uncovered Villages |   No. of Towers proposed along National Highways |
|---------|-------------------|------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------|
| 1       | Arunachal Pradesh |                                     2805 |                                               1893 |                                              149 |
| 2       | Assam             |                                     2503 |                                               1874 |                                               33 |
| 3       | Manipur           |                                      528 |                                                384 |                                               53 |
| 4       | Meghalaya         |                                     2374 |                                               2162 |                                               11 |
| 5       | Mizoram           |                                      252 |                                                227 |                                               19 |
| 6       | Nagaland          |                                      134 |                                                112 |                                               48 |
| 7       | Sikkim            |                                       23 |                                                 19 |                                                1 |
| 8       | Tripura           |                                        2 |                                                  2 |                                                7 |
|         | TOTAL             |                                     8621 |                                               6673 |                                              321 |

Contd…6/-

## Annexure-IV

## State-wise breakup of mobile tower locations in LWE Affected Areas

| S. No.   | State          | No. of locations identified by MHA   |   No. of Mobile Towers Installed |
|----------|----------------|--------------------------------------|----------------------------------|
| 1.       | Andhra Pradesh | 54                                   |                               54 |
| 2.       | Bihar          | 184                                  |                              184 |
| 3.       | Chhattisgarh   | 497                                  |                              490 |
| 4.       | Jharkhand      | 782                                  |                              782 |
| 5.       | Maharashtra    | 60                                   |                               60 |
| 6.       | Madhya Pradesh | 22                                   |                               22 |
| 7.       | Odisha         | 253                                  |                              248 |
| 8.       | Telangana      | 173                                  |                              172 |
| 9.       | Uttar Pradesh  | 78                                   |                               78 |
| 10.      | West Bengal    | 96                                   |                               96 |
| Total    | Total          | 2,199                                |                             2186 |

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