Lok Sabha Question No. 310 (STARRED), answered on 2021-03-17
Subject: Mobile and Internet Services in Rural and LWE Affected Areas
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Rahul Ramesh Shewale, Hemant Patil

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK  SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 310 TO BE ANSWERED ON 17 TH  MARCH, 2021

## MOBILE AND INTERNET SERVICES IN RURAL AND LWE AFFECTED AREAS

- *310.   SHRI RAHUL RAMESH SHEWALE: SHRI HEMANT SRIRAM PATIL:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) the number of villages in rural areas and areas affected by Left Wing Extremism (LWE) in the country which are yet to be connected with mobile telephone and internet services, as on date, State/UT-wise;
- (b) the  schemes/programmes  implemented  by  the  Government  to  ensure  mobile  and  internet services in each village of the country;
- (c) the  details  of  the  funds  provided  by  the  Government  under  the  said  schemes/programmes during each of the last three years and the current year, State/UT-wise and Scheme/Programme-wise;
- (d) whether the Government has assessed the impact of such unavailability of mobile telephone and internet services on its Digital India Programme;
- (e) if so, the details and the outcome thereof and if not, the reasons therefor; and
- (f) the other steps taken by the Government in this regard?

## ANSWER

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

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

## STATEMENT TO BE LAID  ON  THE  TABLE  OF  THE  LOK  SABHA  IN  RESPECT  OF PARTS (a) TO (f) OF THE LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *310 FOR 17.03.2021 REGARDING 'MOBILE AND INTERNET SERVICES IN RURAL AND LWE AFFECTED AREAS'

(a) to (f): To have a comprehensive and objective data about the availability of mobile and internet connectivity in villages, all the Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) were directed to collect the data village-wise and furnish to the Department. From the said data, it is estimated that out of 5,97,618 inhabited  villages  in  the  country,  as  per  Census-2011,  5,72,551  villages  have  been  provided  with mobile and internet connectivity. As per Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), 90 districts falling under 11  States  are  affected  by  Left  Wing  Extremism  (LWE).  In  these  90  districts,  85,894  villages  are having mobile and internet services out of total number of 96,794 inhabited villages (as per Census2011). State wise details are given in Annexure-I and II.

The Government through various schemes approved under Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF)  namely,  LWE-Phase-I  and  Phase-II  projects,  Aspirational  districts'  scheme,  Border  Area Villages'  scheme,  commissioning  of  submarine  Optical  Fibre  Cable  connectivity  from  Chennai  to Andaman  Nicobar  Islands,  scheme  for  connecting  submarine  Optical  Fibre  Cable  from  Kochi  to Lakshadweep Islands, BharatNet Phase-I and Phase-II projects, etc., is providing mobile and internet services in rural areas and areas affected by Left Wing Extremism(LWE) in the country. The details are  given  in Annexure-III. Mobile  and  internet  services  in  the  remaining  uncovered  villages  are provided by Government and Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) in phased manner.

The Statement of State/UT-Wise and Scheme/Programme-wise disbursement of Funds from Universal Service Obligation Fund during last three years (2017-18 to 2019-20) and current financial year 2020-21 upto 31.01.2021 are enclosed as Annexure-IV & V.

## No. of Villages with Mobile Connectivity

| Sr. No.   | State/UT                           |   Total No. of inhabited villages as per Census 2011 |   No. of inhabited villages with mobile connectivity as per 2020 data |   No. of Uncovered villages |
|-----------|------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------|
| 1         | Andaman &Nicobar Islands           |                                                  396 |                                                                   245 |                         151 |
| 2         | Andhra Pradesh                     |                                                16158 |                                                                 14371 |                        1787 |
| 3         | Arunachal Pradesh                  |                                                 5258 |                                                                  3035 |                        2223 |
| 4         | Assam                              |                                                25372 |                                                                 24756 |                         616 |
| 5         | Bihar                              |                                                39073 |                                                                 38828 |                         245 |
| 6         | Chandigarh                         |                                                    5 |                                                                     5 |                           0 |
| 7         | Chhattisgarh                       |                                                19567 |                                                                 17720 |                        1847 |
| 8         | Dadra &Nagar Haveli and Daman &Diu |                                                   84 |                                                                    84 |                           0 |
| 9         | Delhi                              |                                                  103 |                                                                   103 |                           0 |
| 10        | Goa                                |                                                  320 |                                                                   292 |                          28 |
| 11        | Gujarat                            |                                                17843 |                                                                 17331 |                         512 |
| 12        | Haryana                            |                                                 6642 |                                                                  6642 |                           0 |
| 13        | Himachal Pradesh                   |                                                17882 |                                                                 17499 |                         383 |
| 14        | Jammu &Kashmir                     |                                                 6101 |                                                                  5947 |                         154 |
| 15        | Jharkhand                          |                                                29492 |                                                                 28348 |                        1144 |
| 16        | Karnataka                          |                                                27397 |                                                                 26956 |                         441 |
| 17        | Kerala                             |                                                 1017 |                                                                  1017 |                           0 |
| 18        | Ladakh                             |                                                  236 |                                                                   172 |                          64 |
| 19        | Lakshadweep                        |                                                    6 |                                                                     5 |                           1 |
| 20        | Madhya Pradesh                     |                                                51929 |                                                                 49317 |                        2612 |
| 21        | Maharashtra                        |                                                40959 |                                                                 38631 |                        2328 |
| 22        | Manipur                            |                                                 2515 |                                                                  2052 |                         463 |
| 23        | Meghalaya                          |                                                 6459 |                                                                  4785 |                        1674 |
| 24        | Mizoram                            |                                                  704 |                                                                   498 |                         206 |
| 25        | Nagaland                           |                                                 1400 |                                                                  1256 |                         144 |
| 26        | Odisha                             |                                                47677 |                                                                 41578 |                        6099 |
| 27        | Punjab                             |                                                12168 |                                                                 12168 |                           0 |
| 28        | Puducherry                         |                                                   90 |                                                                    90 |                           0 |
| 29        | Rajasthan                          |                                                43264 |                                                                 42323 |                         941 |
| 30        | Sikkim                             |                                                  425 |                                                                   415 |                          10 |
| 31        | Tamil Nadu                         |                                                15049 |                                                                 15000 |                          49 |
| 32        | Telangana                          |                                                10128 |                                                                  9975 |                         153 |
| 33        | Tripura                            |                                                  863 |                                                                   832 |                          31 |
| 34        | Uttar Pradesh                      |                                                97813 |                                                                 97486 |                         327 |
| 35        | Uttarakhand                        |                                                15745 |                                                                 15319 |                         426 |
| 36        | West Bengal                        |                                                37478 |                                                                 37470 |                           8 |
|           | Total                              |                                               597618 |                                                                572551 |                       25067 |

## Annexure-II

## Annexure-II referred to in Part (a) to (f) of the Lok Sabha Starred Question No.310 for 17.03.2021

## No. of Villages covered with mobile connectivity in LWE districts

| Sr. No.   | State Name     |   No. of inhabited villages inLWE Districts (as per census 2011) |   No. of inhabited villages covered with mobile connectivity |   No. of Uncovered villages |
|-----------|----------------|------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------|
| 1         | Andhra Pradesh |                                                             9070 |                                                         7419 |                        1651 |
| 2         | Bihar          |                                                            19956 |                                                        19742 |                         214 |
| 3         | Chhattisgarh   |                                                             8725 |                                                         7442 |                        1283 |
| 4         | Jharkhand      |                                                            21878 |                                                        20989 |                         889 |
| 5         | Madhya Pradesh |                                                             2475 |                                                         2337 |                         138 |
| 6         | Maharashtra    |                                                             3855 |                                                         2765 |                        1090 |
| 7         | Odisha         |                                                            22363 |                                                        16944 |                        5419 |
| 8         | Telangana      |                                                             3160 |                                                         2983 |                         177 |
| 9         | Uttar Pradesh  |                                                             4561 |                                                         4522 |                          39 |
| 10        | West Bengal    |                                                              489 |                                                          489 |                           0 |
| 11        | Kerala         |                                                              262 |                                                          262 |                           0 |
|           | TOTAL          |                                                            96794 |                                                        85894 |                       10900 |

## Annexure-III referred to in Part (a) to (f) of the Lok Sabha Starred Question No.310 for 17.03.2021

## List of Schemes approved under Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF)

- (i) Under LWE Phase-I scheme, 2,343 mobile towers have been installed in LWE areas across 10 LWE States  and  are  providing  services.  Under  LWE  Phase-II  scheme,  2,542  mobile  towers  at  locations identified by Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) are approved across the 10 LWE States.
- (ii) Scheme for providing mobile connectivity in 354 villages of uncovered border areas including Ladakh and Kargil Region, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and other priority areas;
- (iii) Comprehensive  Telecom  Development  Plan  for  mobile  connectivity  in  the  North  Eastern  Region consisting of following components, to provide mobile coverage in uncovered villages and along with the National Highways;
- (a) CTDP  for  NER  States  of  Assam  (except  2  districts  of  Karbi  Anglong  and  Dima  Hasao), Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura for Installation of 2,004 mobile towers for provision of mobile services in 2,128 uncovered villages and mobile connectivity along National Highways;
- (b) Scheme for installation  of  889  towers  for  provisioning  of  mobile  services  in  1164  uncovered villages and along National Highways in the State of Meghalaya;
- (c) Scheme for installation of 1,533 towers for provisioning of mobile services in 2,374 uncovered villages of Arunachal Pradesh and 2 Districts of Assam, i.e. Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao.
- (iv) Scheme for providing 4G mobile connectivity in 502 uncovered villages of Aspirational Districts in four States, namely, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan;
- (v) BharatNet project for providing broadband connectivity in all the Gram Panchayats (approx. 2.5 lakh) in the country;
- (vi) Laying of submarine Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) between Chennai and Andaman & Nicobar Islands for providing connectivity to Andaman & Nicobar Islands;
- (vii) Submarine OFC Connectivity between Kochi and Lakshadweep Islands;
- (viii) Mobile connectivity to cover uncovered villages and along National Highway (NH 223) in Andaman & Nicobar Islands;
- (ix) Mobile connectivity has been enhanced in Lakshadweep Islands by installing 10 mobile towers;
- (x) Satellite bandwidth augmentation upto 4 Gbps for Andaman & Nicobar Islands;
- (xi) Satellite bandwidth augmentation upto 1.71 Gbps for Lakshadweep Islands.

## Annexure-IV referred to in Part (a) to (f) of the Lok Sabha Starred Question No.310 for 17.03.2021

| Sl. No.     | Name of CCA/States/UT       | Figures in Crore   | Figures in Crore   | Figures in Crore   | Figures in Crore   |
|-------------|-----------------------------|--------------------|--------------------|--------------------|--------------------|
| Sl. No.     | Name of CCA/States/UT       | 2017-18            | 2018-19            | 2019-20            | 2020-21            |
| 1           | Andaman &Nicobar Islands    | 0.03               | 149.25             | 297.28             | 516.08             |
| 2           | Andhra Pradesh              | 33.77              | 16.48              | 23.33              | 26.11              |
| 3           | Assam                       | 3.49               | 6.34               | 171.81             | 91.57              |
| 4           | Bihar                       | 65.94              | 63.07              | 68.36              | 29.52              |
| 5           | Chhattisgarh                | 211.46             | 85.36              | 90.24              | 35.77              |
| 6           | Delhi                       | 0.04               | ---                | ---                | ---                |
| 7           | Funds to BSNL for VPT       | ---                | ---                | 21.84              | ---                |
| 8           | Funds to BBNL for BharatNet | 6000.00            | 4145.54            | 1657.74            | 4341.85            |
| 9           | Gujrat                      | 14.42              | ---                | 5.86               | ---                |
| 10          | Haryana                     | 6.97               | 0.95               | 2.87               | 2.05               |
| 11          | Himachal Pradesh            | 5.42               | 2.70               | 3.36               | 1.11               |
| 12          | Jammu &Kashmir              | 8.57               | 0.03               | 1.26               | 0.12               |
| 13          | Jharkhand                   | 185.56             | 129.32             | 149.84             | 85.97              |
| 14          | Karnataka                   | 26.12              | 0.01               | 11.41              | ---                |
| 15          | Kerala                      | 8.78               | 0.02               | 8.39               | 1.18               |
| 16          | Lakshadweep                 | ---                | 39.66              | ---                | 9.21               |
| 17          | Maharashtra                 | 64.59              | 19.34              | 40.02              | 15.97              |
| 18          | Madhya Pradesh              | 36.99              | 4.09               | 9.72               | 9.63               |
| 19          | North East-I*               | 1.29               | 0.08               | 48.38              | 51.59              |
| 20          | North East-II**             | 0.47               | 0.01               | 136.52             | 129.44             |
| 21          | Odisha                      | 142.64             | 72.92              | 93.82              | 33.45              |
| 22          | Punjab                      | 9.89               | ---                | 3.37               | 2.26               |
| 23          | Rajasthan                   | 13.04              | 3.68               | 4.77               | 0.55               |
| 24          | Talangana                   | 25.44              | 19.87              | 10.30              | 5.50               |
| 25          | Tamil Nadu                  | 10.32              | ---                | 6.65               | 0.05               |
| 26          | Uttar Pradesh               | 78.46              | 6.75               | 35.72              | 14.54              |
| 27          | Uttaranchal                 | 8.24               | ---                | 1.21               | ---                |
| 28          | West Bengal                 | 36.79              | 22.77              | 21.92              | 21.55              |
| Grand Total | Grand Total                 | 6998.76            | 4788.22            | 2926.00            | 5425.06            |

| Scheme/Programme-Wise disbursement of Funds from Universal Service Obligation Fund during last three   | Scheme/Programme-Wise disbursement of Funds from Universal Service Obligation Fund during last three   | Scheme/Programme-Wise disbursement of Funds from Universal Service Obligation Fund during last three   | Scheme/Programme-Wise disbursement of Funds from Universal Service Obligation Fund during last three   | Scheme/Programme-Wise disbursement of Funds from Universal Service Obligation Fund during last three   | Scheme/Programme-Wise disbursement of Funds from Universal Service Obligation Fund during last three   |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Sl. No.                                                                                                | Name of Schemes                                                                                        | Figures in Crore                                                                                       | Figures in Crore                                                                                       | Figures in Crore                                                                                       | Figures in Crore                                                                                       |
|                                                                                                        |                                                                                                        | 2017-18                                                                                                | 2018-19                                                                                                | 2019-20                                                                                                | 2020-21                                                                                                |
| 1                                                                                                      | Setting up of 200 Wi-Fi through BSNL                                                                   | 2.81                                                                                                   | ---                                                                                                    | ---                                                                                                    | ---                                                                                                    |
| 2                                                                                                      | Setting up of 25000 Wi-Fi at Rural Exchanges of BSNL                                                   | 187.50                                                                                                 | ---                                                                                                    | 128.45                                                                                                 | 37.39                                                                                                  |
| 3                                                                                                      | 5000 Wi-Fi Chaupal through CSC                                                                         | 68.16                                                                                                  | ---                                                                                                    | ---                                                                                                    | ---                                                                                                    |
| 4                                                                                                      | Shri AMARNATH JI Yatra                                                                                 | 6.91                                                                                                   | ---                                                                                                    | ---                                                                                                    | ---                                                                                                    |
| 5                                                                                                      | BharatNet                                                                                              | 6000.00                                                                                                | 4145.54                                                                                                | 1657.74                                                                                                | 4341.85                                                                                                |
| 6                                                                                                      | Impact Assessment                                                                                      | ---                                                                                                    | ---                                                                                                    | 0.15                                                                                                   | ---                                                                                                    |
| 7                                                                                                      | Provision of Mobile Services in Left Wing Extremism Affected Areas (LWE Phase-I)                       | 710.90                                                                                                 | 414.31                                                                                                 | 459.79                                                                                                 | 241.78                                                                                                 |
| 8                                                                                                      | Provision of Mobile Services in North Eastern Region and National Highways by Airtel                   | ---                                                                                                    | ---                                                                                                    | 353.10                                                                                                 | 273.63                                                                                                 |
| 9                                                                                                      | Village Public Telephones in uncovered villages as per census 2001 (New VPT-2)                         | 2.03                                                                                                   | 8.48                                                                                                   | 22.15                                                                                                  | 0.02                                                                                                   |
| 10                                                                                                     | Augmentation, Creation and Management of Optical Fibre Network in Assam                                | ---                                                                                                    | 6.12                                                                                                   | ---                                                                                                    | ---                                                                                                    |
| 11                                                                                                     | Rural Household Direct Exchange Lines installed after 01.04.2007 (RDEL-X)                              | ---                                                                                                    | 18.04                                                                                                  | ---                                                                                                    | ---                                                                                                    |
| 12                                                                                                     | Augmentation of Satellite Bandwidth in Andaman &Nicobar                                                | ---                                                                                                    | 56.00                                                                                                  | 38.06                                                                                                  | 13.29                                                                                                  |
| 13                                                                                                     | Augmentation of Satellite Bandwidth in Lakshadweep                                                     | ---                                                                                                    | 39.66                                                                                                  | ---                                                                                                    | ---                                                                                                    |
| 14                                                                                                     | Setting up Ten 2G BTS in Lakshadweep                                                                   | ---                                                                                                    | ---                                                                                                    | ---                                                                                                    | 9.21                                                                                                   |
| 15                                                                                                     | Provision of Submarine OFC connectivity in A&N Islands                                                 | ---                                                                                                    | 93.25                                                                                                  | 259.22                                                                                                 | 502.79                                                                                                 |
| 16                                                                                                     | Uncovered Villages under A&N                                                                           | 0.03                                                                                                   | ---                                                                                                    | ---                                                                                                    | ---                                                                                                    |
| 17                                                                                                     | Setting up of Wi-Fi at 200 Railway Stations by RailTel                                                 | 7.39                                                                                                   | 2.01                                                                                                   | 0.91                                                                                                   | 5.03                                                                                                   |
| 18                                                                                                     | Rural Wireline Broadband                                                                               | 13.03                                                                                                  | 4.81                                                                                                   | 6.41                                                                                                   | 0.06                                                                                                   |
| Grand Total                                                                                            | Grand Total                                                                                            | 6998.76                                                                                                | 4788.22                                                                                                | 2926.00                                                                                                | 5425.06                                                                                                |