Lok Sabha Question No. 3750 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-12-11
Subject: Operationalization of BharatNet Project
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Manoj Kishorbhai Kotak

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3750 TO BE ANSWERED ON 11 TH   DECEMBER, 2019

## OPERATIONALIZATION OF BHARATNET PROJECT

## 3750. SHRI MANOJ KOTAK:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) the number of panchayats linked by commercial and operational broadband connections under the BharatNet programme, State/UT-wise;
- (b) whether  out  of  one  lakh  Gram  Panchayats,  more  than  50  per  cent  had  non-performing networks or defective equipments due to which they are facing difficulty in providing connectivity;
- (c) if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor;
- (d) whether  the  Government  has  taken  any  steps  to  resolve  this  problem  and  if  so,  the  details thereof; and
- (e) the extent of 'BharatNet Coverage'' in villages of Maharashtra?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMUNICATIONS, HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT 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.

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 Gram Panchayats  (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 45,769 Gram Panchayats (GPs), out of which services are being provided in 16,151 GPs. Further, 34,958 Fibre to the Home (FTTH) connections have also been provided. The State-wise details are given at Annexure-I.

- (b) to (d) BharatNet Network is being monitored through Network Operating Centre (NOC) and its reports are being monitored on a regular basis.

Further, the following steps have been taken for providing stable broadband connectivity from the BharatNet network in the country:

-  The  Digital  Communications  Commission  (DCC)  on  13.06.2019  has  approved  to award the work of maintenance (i.e. O&M of incremental Optical Fibre Cable network and  First  Line  Maintenance  of  equipment  and  supporting  infrastructure)  in  each  of about 1.25 lakh GPs of the BharatNet Phase-I, to CSC e-Governance Services India Limited.
-  The  Operations  &  Maintenance  (O&M)  of  BharatNet  Phase-II  network,  is  to  be carried out mainly through the respective Project Implementation Agencies (PIA).

For  expediting  the  implementation  and  operationalisation  of  the  project,  the  following committees have been constituted for timely resolution of the issues:

- i) Empowered Committee under Secretary, Department of Telecommunications (DoT).
2. ii) Steering Committee under Administrator, Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF).
3. iii) State Level Implementation Committee chaired by Chief Secretary of the State would be set up which would have DoT/USOF/BBNL designated officials as its members.

Operations & Maintenance 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, Action is taken to rectify the faults expeditiously as and when they are reported.

(e) As  on  29.11.2019,  out  of  27,909  GPs  (approx.),  a  total  of  15,269  GPs  have  been  made Service Ready in Maharashtra.

## Annexure referred to in Part (a) of the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 3750 for Answer on 11.12.2019.

## State-wise details of commercial and operational broadband connections under the BharatNet

| S. No.   | State/UT                  |   No. of GPs where Wi-Fi hotspots installed |   No. of GPs where Wi-Fi services provided |   No. of FTTH connections |
|----------|---------------------------|---------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------|---------------------------|
| 1        | Andhra Pradesh            |                                           0 |                                          0 |                       157 |
| 2        | Arunachal Pradesh         |                                         142 |                                        142 |                         0 |
| 3        | Andaman &Nicobar          |                                           0 |                                          0 |                         0 |
| 4        | Assam                     |                                           4 |                                          0 |                       986 |
| 5        | Bihar                     |                                         295 |                                        213 |                       339 |
| 6        | Chandigarh                |                                          12 |                                         12 |                         0 |
| 7        | Chhattisgarh              |                                         517 |                                        435 |                      1163 |
| 8        | Dadra &Nagar Haveli       |                                           0 |                                          0 |                         9 |
| 9        | Daman &Diu                |                                           0 |                                          0 |                         9 |
| 10       | Gujarat                   |                                          26 |                                          5 |                      3680 |
| 11       | Haryana                   |                                        1063 |                                        712 |                       689 |
| 12       | Himachal Pradesh          |                                         330 |                                        206 |                        66 |
| 13       | Jammu &Kashmir and Ladakh |                                         739 |                                        652 |                        41 |
| 14       | Jharkhand                 |                                         312 |                                        254 |                      1165 |
| 15       | Karnataka                 |                                        2569 |                                       1854 |                      6787 |
| 16       | Kerala                    |                                         731 |                                        728 |                      2090 |
| 17       | Lakshadweep               |                                           0 |                                          0 |                         0 |
| 18       | Madhya Pradesh            |                                        1350 |                                        828 |                       775 |
| 19       | Maharashtra               |                                         776 |                                        330 |                      4603 |
| 20       | Manipur                   |                                         161 |                                          6 |                         0 |
| 21       | Mizoram                   |                                           0 |                                          0 |                         0 |
| 22       | Meghalaya                 |                                          70 |                                         70 |                         0 |
| 23       | Nagaland                  |                                           0 |                                          0 |                         0 |
| 24       | Odisha                    |                                         111 |                                        107 |                       954 |
| 25       | Puducherry                |                                          81 |                                         81 |                        81 |
| 26       | Punjab                    |                                           0 |                                          0 |                       222 |
| 27       | Rajasthan                 |                                        8813 |                                       3964 |                      1883 |
| 28       | Sikkim                    |                                           0 |                                          0 |                         0 |
| 29       | Tamil Nadu                |                                           0 |                                          0 |                         0 |
| 30       | Telangana                 |                                           0 |                                          0 |                       593 |
| 31       | Tripura                   |                                          80 |                                          0 |                        22 |
| 32       | Uttar Pradesh             |                                       27223 |                                       5239 |                      6836 |
| 33       | Uttarakhand               |                                         353 |                                        311 |                      1073 |
| 34       | West Bengal               |                                          11 |                                          2 |                       735 |
|          | Total                     |                                       45769 |                                      16151 |                     34958 |

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