Lok Sabha Question No. 519 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-02-05
Subject: Benefits of Telecom Towers
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Devji Mansingram Patel

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 519 TO BE ANSWERED ON 5 TH  FEBRUARY, 2020

## BENEFITS OF TELECOM TOWERS

## †519. SHRI DEVJI M. PATEL:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  opportunities  for  social  activities,  e-governance,  employment  etc.  with  digital  services  are increasing in villages and its surrounding areas where telecom towers have been installed and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) the total  increasing  number  of  telecommunication towers installed in the rural areas  of  the  country, State/UTwise including Rajasthan and the number of towers to be installed in rural areas, State/UT-wise;
- (c) whether the Government is considering to install towers in the tribal area of Pindwada in Rajasthan and if so, the details thereof; and
- (d) the number of villages in the country including Rajasthan where joint service centers are proposed to be opened, State-wise in collaboration with rural entrepreneurs?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMUNICATIONS, HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI SANJAY DHOTRE)

(a) to (c) Yes.  Opportunities  for  social  activities,  e-governance,  employment  etc.  with  digital services  are  increasing  in  villages  and  its  surrounding  areas  where  telecom  towers  have  been installed.  The  list  of  total  number  of  towers  in  the  country  including  Rajasthan  is  at Annexure-I. Currently,  Government  does  not  have  any  plan  to  install  towers  in  the  tribal  area  of  Pindwada  in Rajasthan.

- (d) Ministry of Electronics and  Information Technology  (MeitY)  is implementing 'CSC 2.0: A Way Forward Project' under Digital India Pillar- 3 (Public Internet Access Programme) to set-up at least  one  self-sustainable  Common  Services  Centre  (CSC)  in  each  Gram  Panchayat.  As  on  31 st December, 2019, the overall number of functional CSCs (including urban & rural) are 3,65,361 out of which 2,70,132 CSCs are functional at Gram Panchayat Level, including Rajasthan. A list of statewise numbers is placed as Annexure-II.

## Annexure-I

Annexure-I referred to in Part (a) to (c) of the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 519 for answer on 05.02.2020

## Licensed Service Area (LSA)-wise Towers as on 30-Jan-2020

| SN          | LSA                  |   Grand Total |
|-------------|----------------------|---------------|
| 1           | Andhra Pradesh       |         44748 |
| 2           | Assam                |         13563 |
| 3           | Bihar                |         43302 |
| 4           | Delhi                |         27649 |
| 5           | Gujarat              |         35768 |
| 6           | Himachal Pradesh     |          7116 |
| 7           | Haryana              |         13169 |
| 8           | Jammu &Kashmir       |          9844 |
| 9           | Karnataka            |         38401 |
| 10          | Kolkata              |         13830 |
| 11          | Kerala               |         17859 |
| 12          | Mumbai               |         16664 |
| 13          | Maharashtra          |         45748 |
| 14          | Madhya Pradesh       |         43364 |
| 15          | North East           |          9137 |
| 16          | Odisha               |         19223 |
| 17          | Punjab               |         20762 |
| 18          | Rajasthan            |         32130 |
| 19          | Tamilnadu            |         45068 |
| 20          | Uttar Pradesh (East) |         37787 |
| 21          | Uttar Pradesh (West) |         30250 |
| 22          | West Bengal          |         24187 |
| Grand Total | Grand Total          |        589569 |

## Annexure-II

Annexure-II referred to in Part (d) of the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 519 for answer on 05.02.2020

| STATE/UT-WISE STATUS OF ROLLOUTOFCSCs AS ON31 st DEC, 2019   | STATE/UT-WISE STATUS OF ROLLOUTOFCSCs AS ON31 st DEC, 2019     | STATE/UT-WISE STATUS OF ROLLOUTOFCSCs AS ON31 st DEC, 2019   |
|--------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------|
| Name of States &UTs                                          | No. of Functional CSCs including GP Level As on 31 December'19 | No. of Functional CSCs at GP level As on 31 December'19      |
| Uttar Pradesh                                                | 82465                                                          | 62928                                                        |
| Maharashtra                                                  | 51407                                                          | 36348                                                        |
| Bihar                                                        | 32472                                                          | 26912                                                        |
| Madhya Pradesh                                               | 30846                                                          | 21752                                                        |
| West Bengal                                                  | 17431                                                          | 14476                                                        |
| Rajasthan                                                    | 14925                                                          | 11058                                                        |
| Chhattisgarh                                                 | 14062                                                          | 10272                                                        |
| Jharkhand                                                    | 13941                                                          | 11248                                                        |
| Odisha                                                       | 13117                                                          | 10920                                                        |
| Gujarat                                                      | 11571                                                          | 7503                                                         |
| Haryana                                                      | 11975                                                          | 8369                                                         |
| Tamil Nadu                                                   | 10089                                                          | 5863                                                         |
| Andhra Pradesh                                               | 9370                                                           | 6689                                                         |
| Karnataka                                                    | 9447                                                           | 5098                                                         |
| Punjab                                                       | 8776                                                           | 6625                                                         |
| Assam                                                        | 6751                                                           | 5756                                                         |
| Uttarakhand                                                  | 6492                                                           | 4937                                                         |
| Telangana                                                    | 4817                                                           | 3159                                                         |
| Kerala                                                       | 3921                                                           | 2951                                                         |
| Himachal Pradesh                                             | 3493                                                           | 3097                                                         |
| Tripura                                                      | 959                                                            | 764                                                          |
| Manipur                                                      | 843                                                            | 633                                                          |
| Meghalaya                                                    | 624                                                            | 525                                                          |
| Nagaland                                                     | 296                                                            | 66                                                           |
| Mizoram                                                      | 213                                                            | 50                                                           |
| Arunachal Pradesh                                            | 165                                                            | 113                                                          |
| Goa                                                          | 91                                                             | 62                                                           |
| Sikkim                                                       | 57                                                             | 42                                                           |
| Jammu &Kashmir                                               | 2269                                                           | 1737                                                         |
| Delhi                                                        | 2077                                                           | 0                                                            |
| Puducherry                                                   | 174                                                            | 95                                                           |
| Chandigarh                                                   | 71                                                             | 9                                                            |
| Andaman &Nicobar                                             | 49                                                             | 26                                                           |
| Dadra &NHaveli                                               | 52                                                             | 26                                                           |
| Daman &Diu                                                   | 43                                                             | 13                                                           |
| Lakshadweep                                                  | 10                                                             | 10                                                           |
| GRAND TOTAL                                                  | 365361                                                         | 270132                                                       |

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