Lok Sabha Question No. 1603 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-12-19
Subject: Bharat Net Scheme
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: MALLIKARJUN  KHARGE, BHARATENDRA SINGH

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1603 TO BE ANSWERED ON 19 th   DECEMBER, 2018

## BHARAT NET SCHEME

1603. SHRI MALLIKARJUN KHARGE: KUNWAR BHARATENDRA:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) the  amount  of  funds  that  have  been  spent  on  the  Bharat  Net  Scheme  by  the Government till date;
- (b) the number of villages that have commercial FTTH  (fiber-to-the home) connections in the country, State/UT-wise;
- (c) the  number  of  villages  that  have  been  connected  with  commercial  broadband under the Bharat Net Project;
- (d) whether  the  Government  has  undertaken  any  measures  to  increase  uptake  of connections under the Bharat Net Project by gram panchayats;
- (e) the role and duties of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), Bharat Broadband Network Limited  (BBNL)  and other agencies  in  the  implementation  of  the  Bharat  Net project; and
- (f) the details regarding outstanding due from BSNL, BBNL and other agencies in the operation and maintenance for the Bharat Net project ?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE (IC) OF THE MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS & MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS (SHRI MANOJ SINHA)

- (a) Rs.  17,786  crore  has  been  spent  under  the  Bharat  Net  Scheme  by  the Government till date.
- (b) & (c) Free  FTTH have  been  provisioned  for  all  GPs  under  BharatNet  for  one year and 14980 FTTH (fiber-to-the home) commercial connections have been provided by  BSNL  under  BharatNet  Project.  The  State  wise  details  of  FTTH  connections  is enclosed as ANNEXURE-I.

(d) Yes. To trigger the ecosystem  and  promote  BharatNet  utilization, highly concessional  Tariff  for  bandwidth  and  dark  fibre  for  utilizing  the  network  for  service delivery has been formulated and applied.

There are multiple measures, taken for the utilization of BharatNet e.g.

-  Several  conferences/  meetings  have  been  held  with  multiple  stake holders like, TSPs/ISPs/ Cable Operators/ States etc. for encouraging the utilization of BharatNet in rural areas.
-  Wi-Fi Hotspots installations by CSC-SPV at 32,828 GPs.
-  Rajasthan has been given the work of commissioning the Wi-Fi Hotspot at 10,000 GPs.
-  BBNL is providing Wi-Fi Network for all GPs. Agencies for over all 1.05 lakhs GPs have been selected.
-  The  States  have  been  encouraged  take  FTTH  connections  under BharatNet.

(e) The  roles and  duties of Bharat  Sanchar  Nigam  Limited (BSNL), Bharat Broadband Network Limited (BBNL) and other agencies in the implementation of the Bharat Net project is enclosed as ANNEXURE-II .

(f) The payment of operation and maintenance charges are made by BBNL on the basis of invoice received and examined, from the agencies. This is done on continuous basis.

## State/UT-wise FTTH Connections:

| States/UTs         |   Number of connections from BharatNet |
|--------------------|----------------------------------------|
| Assam              |                                    740 |
| Andhra Pradesh     |                                     19 |
| Bihar              |                                     60 |
| Chhattisgarh       |                                    268 |
| Gujarat            |                                    679 |
| Haryana            |                                     13 |
| Jharkhand          |                                    348 |
| Karnataka          |                                   4716 |
| Kerala             |                                   1475 |
| Madhya Pradesh     |                                   3899 |
| Maharashtra        |                                   1358 |
| Odisha             |                                     94 |
| Puducherry         |                                     16 |
| Punjab             |                                     33 |
| Rajasthan          |                                    890 |
| Telangana          |                                     38 |
| Uttar Pradesh-East |                                    143 |
| Uttar Pradesh-West |                                     08 |
| Uttarakhand        |                                     65 |
| West Bengal        |                                    118 |
| TOTAL              |                                  14980 |

The  role  and  duties  of  Bharat  Sanchar  Nigam  Limited  (BSNL),  Bharat Broadband Network Limited (BBNL) and other agencies in the implementation of the Bharat Net project

- i. Bharat  Broadband  Network  Limited  (BBNL)  is  Executing  Agency  of BharatNet. The primary role of BBNL is to establish, manage & operate the  BharatNet  Infrastructure.  BBNL  is  also  monitoring  the  progress  of work.
- ii. BSNL  is one of the implementing agency among  various Project Implement Agency (PIA) like PGCIL, RailTel, State Governments, Private agencies  etc.  BSNL  has  implemented  the  substantial  portion  of  Cable laying works under BharatNet Phase-I. It is also implementing a part of the BharatNet Phase-II project under CPSU-led Model of implementation.
- iii. Under  the  Revenue  Sharing  arrangements  signed  between  BBNL  and BSNL, BSNL is to maintain OFC, operate and market network, funds in lieu of this is provided by BBNL to BSNL.

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