Lok Sabha Question No. 242 (STARRED), answered on 2020-03-11
Subject: Telecom Services in Tribal and LWE Affected Areas
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Santosh Pandey

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK  SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 242 TO BE ANSWERED ON 11 TH  MARCH, 2020

## TELECOM SERVICES IN TRIBAL AND LWE AFFECTED AREAS

## †*242. SHRI SANTOSH PANDEY:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) the  details  of  schemes  formulated  by  the  Government  for  expansion  of  telecom  services  in tribal and Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected areas of the country;
- (b) the  targets  fixed  and  achieved  by  the  Government  with  regard  to  the  expansion  of  telecom services across the country, State/UT-wise; and
- (c) the  funds  allocated/released/utilized  by  the  Government  in  this  regard  during  the  last  three years and the current year so far?

## ANSWER

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

- (a) to (c) A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

STATEMENT TO BE LAID ON THE TABLE OF LOK SABHA IN RESPECT OF PARTS (a) to  (c)  OF  LOK  SABHA  STARRED  QUESTION  NO.  *242  FOR  11 TH   MARCH,  2020 REGARDING 'TELECOM SERVICES IN TRIBAL AND LWE AFFECTED AREAS'.

(a) & (b) The  schemes,  formulated  by  the  Government  for  expansion  of  telecom  services  in Tribal  and  Left  Wing  Extremism  (LWE)  affected  areas  of  the  country  along  with  target  fixed  and achieved by the Government are as below:

## (1) PROVISION  OF  MOBILE  SERVICES  IN  LEFT  WING  EXTREMISM  (LWE) AFFECTED AREAS:

## (i) LWE PHASE-I:

Mobile connectivity at 2343 tower locations, identified by Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in the Left Wing Extremism affected areas (LWE Phase-I), has been implemented through Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited, and the project has been completed. The State-wise details are given in Annexure-I .

## (ii) LWE PHASE-II:

Provision of mobile connectivity by using 2G+4G technology at 2217 tower locations, identified by Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in the Left Wing Extremism affected areas (LWE PhaseII),  has  been  approved.  The implementation period of the project is 18 months from the date of signing  of  contract  with  the  implementing  agency.  The  tender  is  under  process.  The  State-wise details are given in Annexure-II .

## (2) 354 UNCOVERED VILLAGES SCHEME:

A Scheme has been approved for providing mobile connectivity in 354 uncovered villages of J&K, Ladakh and other priority areas. The implementation period of the project is 9 months from the date of signing of the contract with the implementing agency. The Letter of Intent (LoI) has been issued to the successful bidder. The State-wise details are given in Annexure-III .

## (3) MOBILE CONNECTIVITY TO COVER UNCOVERED VILLAGES AND ALONG NATIONAL HIGHWAY (NH 223) IN ANDAMAN & NICOBAR ISLANDS:

A scheme has been provisioned to provide mobile connectivity to 85 uncovered villages and along NH-223 in Andaman & Nicobar Island. The implementation period of the project is 12 months from the date of signing of contract with the implementing agency. The tender is under process.

## (4) COMPREHENSIVE  TELECOM  DEVELOPMENT  PLAN  FOR  LAKSHADWEEP ISLANDS:

The  project  for  Augmentation  of  2G  Mobile  Coverage  with  EDGE  Technology  in Lakshadweep Islands is completed in May 2018.

## (5) COMPREHENSIVE  TELECOM  DEVELOPMENT  PLAN  (CTDP)  FOR  THE NORTH-EASTERN REGION (NER):

- (i) As part of the CTDP for the NER, Mobile Services are being provided in the uncovered villages in NER and along National Highway for seamless coverage in NER [in Assam except  2  Districts,  Sikkim,  Manipur,  Mizoram,  Nagaland,  Tripura  and  Arunachal

Pradesh (NH only)] by setting up 2004 towers. As of February 2020, 1269 towers have been installed, out of which 1153 sites are providing services. The State-wise details are given in Annexure-IV .

- (ii) A Scheme has been approved for providing mobile connectivity in 1164 uncovered villages and along National Highways of Meghalaya. The Tender is under process.

## (6) BHARATNET:

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. As part of this project, the last mile connectivity,  through Wi-Fi  or any  other suitable  broadband technology,  is  to  be  provided  at  all  the  GPs  in  the  country  including telecom  services  in tribal and LWE affected areas.

As on 28.02.2020, a total of 1,36,693 Gram Panchayats have been made Service Ready. The State-wise  details  are  given  in Annexure-V .  The  project  is  targeted  to  be  completed  by August 2021.

(c) The details of the funds allocated, released and utilized during last three years and the current year so far are as follows:

| S.N.   | Scheme       | Funds allocated/ released &utilized (in Rs. Crore)   | Funds allocated/ released &utilized (in Rs. Crore)   | Funds allocated/ released &utilized (in Rs. Crore)   | Funds allocated/ released &utilized (in Rs. Crore)   |
|--------|--------------|------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------|
|        |              | 2016-17                                              | 2017-18                                              | 2018-19                                              | 2019-20                                              |
| 1.     | LWE Phase-I  | 280.70                                               | 710.89                                               | 414.30                                               | 346.27                                               |
| 2.     | CTDP for NER | -                                                    | -                                                    | -                                                    | 284.98                                               |

| BharatNet Scheme:   | BharatNet Scheme:                      | BharatNet Scheme:          |
|---------------------|----------------------------------------|----------------------------|
| Year                | Funds Allocated/ disbursed (Rs. Crore) | Funds utilized (Rs. Crore) |
| 2016-17             | 5600                                   | 4263.40                    |
| 2017-18             | 6000                                   | 1906.19                    |
| 2018-19             | 4145                                   | 2347.61                    |
| 2019-20             | 1657.74                                | 3791.37                    |
| TOTAL               | 17402.74                               | 12308.57                   |

## ANNEXURE-I

Annexure referred to in Parts (a)&(b) of the Lok Sabha Starred Question No. *242 for answer on 11.03.2020.

## STATUS OF LWE-I

| S. No.   | State          |   Number of Towers Radiating |
|----------|----------------|------------------------------|
| 1.       | Andhra Pradesh |                           62 |
| 2.       | Bihar          |                          250 |
| 3.       | Chhattisgarh   |                          525 |
| 4.       | Jharkhand      |                          816 |
| 5.       | Maharashtra    |                           65 |
| 6.       | Madhya Pradesh |                           22 |
| 7.       | Odisha         |                          256 |
| 8.       | Telangana      |                          173 |
| 9.       | Uttar Pradesh  |                           78 |
| 10.      | West Bengal    |                           96 |
|          | Total          |                         2343 |

## ANNEXURE-II

Annexure referred to in Parts (a)&(b) of the Lok Sabha Starred Question No. *242 for answer on 11.03.2020.

## STATE WISE NUMBER OF TOWERS IN LWE-II PROJECT

| S No.   | State          |   No. of Mobile Towers |
|---------|----------------|------------------------|
| 1       | Andhra Pradesh |                    346 |
| 2       | Bihar          |                     16 |
| 3       | Chhattisgarh   |                    971 |
| 4       | Jharkhand      |                    450 |
| 5       | Madhya Pradesh |                     23 |
| 6       | Maharashtra    |                    125 |
| 7       | Odisha         |                    158 |
| 8       | Telangana      |                     53 |
| 9       | Uttar Pradesh  |                     42 |
| 10      | West Bengal    |                     33 |
| Total   | Total          |                   2217 |

## ANNEXURE-III

Annexure referred to in Parts (a)&(b) of the Lok Sabha Starred Question No. *242 for answer on 11.03.2020.

## STATE WISE NUMBER OF VILLAGES IN THE SCHEME OF 354 UNCOVERED VILLAGES

| S. No   | State Name                |   Total no. of villages |
|---------|---------------------------|-------------------------|
| 1.      | Bihar                     |                       8 |
| 2.      | Gujarat                   |                      70 |
| 3.      | Himachal Pradesh          |                      59 |
| 4.      | Jammu &Kashmir and Ladakh |                     144 |
| 5.      | Karnataka                 |                       3 |
| 6.      | Madhya Pradesh            |                       1 |
| 7.      | Rajasthan                 |                      31 |
| 8.      | Uttar Pradesh             |                       9 |
| 9.      | Uttarakhand               |                      28 |
| 10.     | West Bengal               |                       1 |
|         | TOTAL                     |                     354 |

## ANNEXURE-IV

Annexure referred to in Parts (a) & (b) of the Lok Sabha Starred Question No. *242 for answer on 11.03.2020.

## STATE WISE NUMBER OF VILLAGES IN THE CTDP- NER

| S. No.   | Bidding Unit      | No. of BTSs(as per Agreement)   | Tower installed   | Towers radiating   |
|----------|-------------------|---------------------------------|-------------------|--------------------|
|          |                   | Total                           | Total             | Total              |
| 1        | Assam             | 983                             | 430               | 426                |
| 2        | Sikkim            | 20                              | 6                 | 6                  |
| 3        | Manipur           | 437                             | 354               | 290                |
| 4        | Mizoram           | 246                             | 204               | 178                |
| 5        | Nagaland          | 160                             | 143               | 136                |
| 6        | Tripura           | 9                               | 3                 | 3                  |
| 7        | Arunachal Pradesh | 149                             | 129               | 114                |
|          | Total             | 2004                            | 1269              | 1153               |

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

## ANNEXURE-V

Annexure referred to in Parts (a) & (b) of the Lok Sabha Starred Question No. *242 for answer on 11.03.2020.

STATE WISE NUMBER OF GRAM PANCHAYATS IN THE BHARATNET

| Sl. No   | States                          |   Total GPs* |   Service Ready GPs* |
|----------|---------------------------------|--------------|----------------------|
| 1.       | Assam                           |         2979 |                 1622 |
| 2.       | Bihar                           |         8963 |                 8355 |
| 3.       | Chhattisgarh                    |        10181 |                 4819 |
| 4.       | Haryana                         |         6204 |                 6188 |
| 5.       | Jammu &Kashmir including Ladakh |         4799 |                 1027 |
| 6.       | Karnataka                       |         6252 |                 6244 |
| 7.       | Kerala                          |         1129 |                 1129 |
| 8.       | Madhya Pradesh                  |        23728 |                13059 |
| 9.       | Maharashtra                     |        28260 |                15670 |
| 10.      | Punjab                          |        12940 |                12560 |
| 11.      | Rajasthan                       |        10151 |                 8751 |
| 12.      | Uttarakhand                     |         7706 |                 1529 |
| 13.      | Uttar Pradesh                   |        56244 |                29120 |
| 14.      | West Bengal                     |         3708 |                 2298 |
| 15.      | Sikkim                          |          207 |                   18 |
| 16.      | Andaman &Nicobar                |           71 |                    8 |
| 17.      | Chandigarh                      |           13 |                   13 |
| 18.      | Lakshadweep                     |           10 |                    0 |
| 19.      | Arunachal Pradesh               |         1864 |                  297 |
| 20.      | Nagaland                        |         1042 |                  129 |
| 21.      | Manipur                         |         2799 |                  754 |
| 22.      | Mizoram                         |          776 |                  165 |
| 23.      | Tripura                         |         1062 |                  688 |
| 24.      | Meghalaya                       |         1814 |                  206 |
| 25.      | Gujarat                         |        14311 |                11333 |
| 26.      | Daman &Diu                      |           18 |                   18 |
| 27.      | Dadra &Nagar Haveli             |           21 |                   21 |
| 28.      | Puducherry                      |          101 |                  101 |
| 29.      | Andhra Pradesh                  |        13533 |                 1638 |
| 30.      | Telangana                       |        13421 |                 2047 |
| 31.      | Odisha                          |         7095 |                 4088 |
| 32.      | Jharkhand                       |         4653 |                 2517 |
| 33.      | Himachal Pradesh                |         3269 |                  281 |
| 34.      | Tamil Nadu                      |        12909 |                    0 |
| TOTAL    | TOTAL                           |       262233 |               136693 |

-  Including BHQ