Lok Sabha Question No. 1632 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-09-21
Subject: Phase I of Bharat Net Project
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Lavu Sri Krishna Devarayalu

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1632 TO BE ANSWERED ON 21 ST  SEPTEMBER, 2020

## PHASE I OF BHARATNET PROJECT

## 1632.   SHRI LAVU SRI KRISHNA DEVARAYALU:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) the aims and the objectives of Phase I of BharatNet Project;
- (b) the funds sanctioned, allocated, released and utilised during each of the last three years and the current year, State/UT-wise;
- (c) the targets fixed and the achievement made by the Government thereunder, State/UT-wise including Andhra Pradesh along with the progress made on the said project in Andhra Pradesh; and
- (d) whether progress on Phase-II of the project is going as per schedule and if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

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

- (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 project envisages providing affordable broadband services in rural and remote areas towards realisation of the vision of 'Digital India'.
- (b) Rs. 42,068 crore has been approved by the Cabinet on 19.07.2017 for BharatNet Project. The funds are allocated/disbursed by USOF for the project as a whole and not State/UT-wise.
- The    State/UT-wise    and  Year-wise    details  of  the  disbursement  of  funds  by  Bharat  Broadband  Network Limited , the executing agency for this project ,  are given in Annexure-I.
- (c) BharatNet  project  is  for  providing  broadband  connectivity  to  all  the  Gram  Panchayats  of  the States/UTs. The details of the State/UT-wise achievement, including in Andhra Pradesh, as on 1st September 2020 are given at Annexure-II.
- (d) As on 1st September 2020, a total of 23,133 Gram Panchayats(including Block Headquarters) have been made Service Ready ,and 1.47 lakh km OFC has been laid under BharatNet phase-II.

BharatNet is a challenging project of mega nature and the Gram Panchayats(GPs) are widely dispersed across the country in rural and also remote areas. The implementation of Phase-II is being done under State-led and CPSU-led model. The delay in the implementation of the BharatNet phase-II is mainly on account of:-

- (i) About 65,000 GPs in 8 States are under implementation under State-led model. For these States, the project is at various stages of implementation. The delay in the implementation by the States is also adversely affecting the completion of the Project. For other States, not being implemented under State-led model, the implementation strategy is under the process of review.
- (ii) Under CPSU-led model, BSNL's work was also delayed due to its difficult financial condition.
- (iii) In  March  2020,  pursuant  to  Lockdown  and  movement  restrictions  due  to  COVID-19  in  the country,  the  project  progress  is  affected.  However,  with  the  beginning  of  unlock  phase,  all efforts are being made to expedite the project implementation.

## Annexure-I

Annexure referred to in Part (b) of the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 1632 for Answer on 21.09.2020 State/UT-wise Disbursement towards Capital Expenditure (CAPEX) by BBNL (In Rs.)

| S.No.                     | State/UT                                 |   FY 2017-18 |   FY 2018-19 |   FT 2019-20 |   FY 2020-21 |
|---------------------------|------------------------------------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|
| 1                         | Andaman &Nicobar Islands                 |      1600000 |            0 |    128364966 |  0           |
| 2                         | Andhra Pradesh                           |    847980000 |     15557915 |   1566213936 |  1.88499e+09 |
| 3                         | Arunachal Pradesh                        |    139671853 |      5967951 |     37398238 |  0           |
| 4                         | Assam                                    |     30088614 |    207911324 |     25752720 |  0           |
| 5                         | Bihar                                    |    225376634 |   1492594848 |   2835412688 |  7.30086e+08 |
| 6                         | Chhattisgarh                             |   2368208766 |   2389491575 |    565890886 |  2.5e+09     |
| 7                         | Gujarat, Dadra &Nagar Haveli, Daman &Diu |   2304089756 |   2787710875 |   9845187162 |  2.36e+09    |
| 8                         | Haryana                                  |   1346574610 |    496222881 |     73488185 |  0           |
| 9                         | Himachal Pradesh                         |     13045540 |     43531150 |    272007502 |  0           |
| 10                        | Jammu &Kashmir and Ladakh                |     36357422 |    203419417 |            0 |  0           |
| 11                        | Jharkhand                                |    481310822 |   1172808104 |    556255777 |  1.64012e+09 |
| 12                        | Karnataka                                |   2246872986 |   1099896518 |     67908746 |  0           |
| 13                        | Kerala                                   |            0 |            0 |            0 |  0           |
| 14                        | Lakshadweep                              |            0 |            0 |            0 |  0           |
| 15                        | Madhya Pradesh                           |   1933222230 |    611721857 |    286664866 |  3.65822e+09 |
| 16                        | Maharashtra                              |   4235640248 |   3360550000 |    762511621 |  9.40126e+09 |
| 17                        | Manipur                                  |    146307480 |     93714562 |     21260352 |  0           |
| 18                        | Meghalaya                                |    195508225 |     20819377 |      8504380 |  0           |
| 19                        | Mizoram                                  |    123487397 |      7831092 |     12109137 |  0           |
| 20                        | Nagaland                                 |    160873490 |      1801998 |     28476807 |  0           |
| 21                        | Odisha                                   |    468995146 |    549550961 |   1200477422 |  1.73549e+09 |
| 22                        | Puducherry                               |      5316342 |       669465 |            0 |  0           |
| 23                        | Punjab                                   |            0 |   1251970480 |   3017295744 |  1.0971e+09  |
| 24                        | Rajasthan                                |   1082712706 |    901907558 |    741180165 |  2.0103e+09  |
| 25                        | Sikkim                                   |      2000000 |            0 |            0 |  0           |
| 26                        | Tamil Nadu                               |   1106410000 |            0 |            0 |  0           |
| 27                        | Telangana                                |   1122780000 |    342490049 |      3645125 |  3.23e+09    |
| 28                        | Tripura                                  |    165243293 |     91444128 |            0 |  0           |
| 30                        | Uttar Pradesh                            |    777627666 |    403653757 |   3101944766 |  0           |
| 31                        | Uttarakhand                              |      9070393 |    622690664 |     93690271 |  0           |
| 32                        | West Bengal                              |    910420748 |    834749017 |    118486576 |  0           |
| Total                     | Total                                    |  22486792368 |  19010677522 |  25370128038 |  3.02476e+10 |
| *GPON&OFC                 | *GPON&OFC                                |            0 |   1277609848 |            0 |  0           |
| * Ad hoc payment done for | * Ad hoc payment done for                |  23020000000 |   8630000000 |   7700000000 |  0           |
| BSNL *TCIL                | BSNL *TCIL                               |            0 |            0 |    196740075 |  0           |
| *BSNL -VSAT               | *BSNL -VSAT                              |            0 |            0 |    423800000 |  0           |

State/UT-wise Disbursement towards Operations& Maintenance by BBNL (In Rs.)

| S. No.   | State/UT                  |   FY 2017-18 |   FY 2018-19 |       FY 2019-20 |   FY 2020-21 |
|----------|---------------------------|--------------|--------------|------------------|--------------|
| 1        | Andhra Pradesh            |            0 |     28257523 |      2.6429e+07  |            0 |
| 2        | Assam                     |     90934282 |    111147297 |      2.8184e+07  |            0 |
| 3        | Bihar                     |    226902624 |    331550619 |      2.46098e+08 |            0 |
| 4        | Chandigarh                |       118330 |            0 |      0           |            0 |
| 5        | Chhattisgarh              |    111410820 |    301366921 |      1.55648e+08 |            0 |
| 6        | Gujarat                   |     29000000 |    238552474 |      1.20778e+08 |            0 |
| 7        | Haryana                   |    167730997 |     97260991 |      2.6001e+07  |            0 |
| 8        | Himachal Pradesh          |            0 |      5631310 |      2.81182e+06 |            0 |
| 9        | Jammu &Kashmir and Ladakh |      2653678 |      4573254 |      1.69817e+07 |       824105 |
| 10       | Jharkhand                 |            0 |     51183039 |      4.18356e+07 |            0 |
| 11       | Karnataka                 |    491463891 |    502688665 |      2.87144e+08 |       507164 |
| 12       | Kerala                    |    125084405 |    128586308 |      6.17755e+07 |            0 |
| 13       | Madhya Pradesh            |    480075081 |    752740055 |      4.85445e+08 |            0 |
| 14       | Maharashtra               |    299267075 |    610329360 |      1.52512e+08 |            0 |
| 15       | Manipur                   |            0 |            0 |      1.0413e+07  |            0 |
| 16       | Meghalaya                 |            0 |            0 |      3.51424e+06 |            0 |
| 17       | Mizoram                   |            0 |            0 |      1.25638e+06 |            0 |
| 18       | Odisha                    |    244194940 |    129663793 |      7.04384e+07 |            0 |
| 19       | Puducherry                |            0 |      7532036 | 825922           |            0 |
| 20       | Punjab                    |    127603572 |    118581468 |      1.80833e+08 |     74303097 |
| 21       | Rajasthan                 |    383466614 |    673987717 |      3.60438e+08 |            0 |
| 22       | Tamil Nadu                |            0 |            0 | 103880           |            0 |
| 23       | Telangana                 |     11999999 |     51676013 |      3.54048e+07 |            0 |
| 24       | Tripura                   |            0 |            0 |      2.48246e+07 |            0 |
| 25       | Uttar Pradesh             |    456982764 |            0 |      3.37414e+08 |            0 |
| 26       | Uttarakhand               |     35923291 |     50361872 |      6.9681e+07  |            0 |
| 27       | West Bengal               |     48155917 |    132237331 |      1.37423e+08 |            0 |
|          | Total                     |   3332968279 |   4327908046 |      2.88421e+09 |     75634366 |

## State/UT-wise Status of BharatNet as on 01.09.2020

| S. No.   | State/UT                  |   Service Ready GPs (including BHQs) |
|----------|---------------------------|--------------------------------------|
| 1        | Assam                     |                                 1624 |
| 2        | Andaman &Nicobar Islands  |                                    8 |
| 3        | Andhra Pradesh            |                                 1686 |
| 4        | Arunachal Pradesh         |                                  414 |
| 5        | Bihar                     |                                 8790 |
| 6        | Chandigarh                |                                   13 |
| 7        | Chhattisgarh              |                                 5484 |
| 8        | Dadra &Nagar Haveli       |                                   21 |
| 9        | Daman &Diu                |                                   18 |
| 10       | Gujarat                   |                                12323 |
| 11       | Haryana                   |                                 6193 |
| 12       | Himachal Pradesh          |                                  326 |
| 13       | Jammu &Kashmir and Ladakh |                                 1059 |
| 14       | Jharkhand                 |                                 3009 |
| 15       | Karnataka                 |                                 6247 |
| 16       | Kerala                    |                                 1129 |
| 17       | Lakshadweep               |                                    0 |
| 18       | Madhya Pradesh            |                                13333 |
| 19       | Maharashtra               |                                17471 |
| 20       | Manipur                   |                                 1222 |
| 21       | Meghalaya                 |                                  258 |
| 22       | Mizoram                   |                                  237 |
| 23       | Nagaland                  |                                  129 |
| 24       | Odisha                    |                                 4540 |
| 25       | Puducherry                |                                  101 |
| 26       | Punjab                    |                                12793 |
| 27       | Rajasthan                 |                                 8913 |
| 28       | Sikkim                    |                                   28 |
| 29       | Tamil Nadu                |                                    0 |
| 30       | Telangana                 |                                 2047 |
| 31       | Tripura                   |                                  709 |
| 32       | Uttar Pradesh             |                                29842 |
| 33       | Uttarakhand               |                                 1534 |
| 34       | West Bengal               |                                 2384 |
| Total    | Total                     |                               143885 |

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