Lok Sabha Question No. 1448 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-11-27
Subject: Laying of Optical Fibre
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Rajan Baburao  Vichare

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1448 TO BE ANSWERED ON 27 TH   NOVEMBER, 2019

## LAYING OF OPTICAL FIBRE

## †1448. SHRI RAJAN VICHARE:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has laid down optical fibre cable network in one lakh village Panchayats in the first phase of the BharatNet Project and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether  the  Government  has  been  able  to  provide  internet  connection  to  only  22,000  village Panchayats out of the aforesaid one lakh village Panchayats and if so, the reasons therefor;
- (c) whether the target fixed by the Government in this regard was March, 2015 and the Government has not been able to achieve the same despite a lapse of more than four years;
- (d) if so, the reasons therefor; and
- (e) the district-wise details of the condition of internet provision to village Panchayats in Maharashtra?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS, LAW & JUSTICE AND ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)

- (a) BharatNet project is being implemented in a phased manner to provide broadband connectivity to all the Gram Panchayats (approx. 2,50,000) in the country.

The target of completing 1,00,000 Gram Panchayats (GPs) under Phase-I of BharatNet was achieved in  December,  2017.  Subsequently,  the  workfront  was  increased  to  1.25  lakh  GPs  in  Phase-I.  The  work  of connecting the remaining GPs of BharatNet is under progress.

- (b) As  part  of  BharatNet  project,  the  Last  Mile  connectivity,  through  Wi-Fi  or  any  other  suitable broadband technology to access broadband /internet services, is to be provided at all the 2.5 lakh GPs in the country. Towards this end, provisioning of 2 Wi-Fi Access Points (APs) is under implementation in each of the GPs of BharatNet Phase-I. As of now, Wi-Fi hotspots have been installed in 44,786 GPs.
- (c) &  (d) The Union Cabinet on 19.07.2017 approved a modified strategy for implementing BharatNet which, inter-alia, includes providing broadband connectivity to all GPs by March 2019. As on 07.11.2019, by laying 3,80,988 km Optical Fibre Cable (OFC), a total of 1,40,668 GPs have been connected, out of which 1,27,393 GPs have been made Service Ready. In addition, 983 GPs have been provided connectivity through satellite media.

Implementation  of  BharatNet  is  very  challenging  as  the  project  is  of  mega  nature  and  the  GPs  are  widely dispersed across the country in rural and remote areas. However, all out efforts are being made to expeditiously implement the project.

- (e) The District-wise details are given in Annexure-I .

## Annexure-I

## Annexure  referred  to  in  Part  (e)  of  the  Lok  Sabha  Unstarred  Question  No.  1448  for  Answer  on 27.11.2019.

## District-wise details of BharatNet project in Maharashtra

| S. No.   | District    |   No. of Service Ready GPs (Including BHQs) |   No. of GPs where Wi-Fi Hotspots installed |
|----------|-------------|---------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------|
| 1        | Ahemadnagar |                                         229 |                                           2 |
| 2        | Akola       |                                         147 |                                           0 |
| 3        | Amravati    |                                         484 |                                           8 |
| 4        | Aurangabad  |                                         368 |                                           1 |
| 5        | Beed        |                                        1009 |                                           3 |
| 6        | Bhandara    |                                         542 |                                           0 |
| 7        | Buldhana    |                                         274 |                                           2 |
| 8        | Chandrapur  |                                         324 |                                           1 |
| 9        | Dhule       |                                         542 |                                           3 |
| 10       | Gadchiroli  |                                         244 |                                           0 |
| 11       | Gondia      |                                         553 |                                         155 |
| 12       | Hingoli     |                                         111 |                                           0 |
| 13       | Jalgaon     |                                         672 |                                           6 |
| 14       | Jalna       |                                         789 |                                           4 |
| 15       | Kolhapur    |                                         637 |                                           0 |
| 16       | Latur       |                                         436 |                                           0 |
| 17       | Nagpur      |                                         774 |                                         575 |
| 18       | Nanded      |                                         355 |                                           2 |
| 19       | Nandurbar   |                                         503 |                                           2 |
| 20       | Nashik      |                                         620 |                                           0 |
| 21       | Osmanabad   |                                         626 |                                           4 |
| 22       | Palghar     |                                           0 |                                           0 |
| 23       | Parbhani    |                                         281 |                                           0 |
| 24       | Pune        |                                         830 |                                           1 |
| 25       | Raigad      |                                         804 |                                           0 |
| 26       | Ratnagiri   |                                         382 |                                           0 |
| 27       | Sangli      |                                         532 |                                           3 |
| 28       | Satara      |                                         526 |                                           0 |
| 29       | Sindhudurg  |                                         361 |                                           0 |
| 30       | Solapur     |                                         369 |                                           1 |
| 31       | Thane       |                                         240 |                                           0 |
| 32       | Wardha      |                                         297 |                                           2 |
| 33       | Washim      |                                         155 |                                           0 |
| 34       | Yavatmal    |                                         229 |                                           1 |
|          | Total       |                                       15245 |                                         776 |

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