Lok Sabha Question No. 53 (STARRED), answered on 2020-02-05
Subject: BharatNet Project
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Uttam Kumar Nalamada Reddy

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK  SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 53 TO BE ANSWERED ON 5 TH  FEBRUARY, 2020

## BHARATNET PROJECT

## *53. SHRI UTTAM KUMAR REDDY NALAMADA:

|         | Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:                                                                                 |
|---------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| (a)     | the funds allocated under the BharatNet Project since its inception, State/UT-wise;                                                      |
| (b)     | the length of optical fibre cable laid down under the said project, State/UT-wise;                                                       |
| (c) the | the number of Gram Panchayats that have been provided with broadband connectivity under scheme till date, State/UT-wise;                 |
| (d)     | the number of functional Wi-Fi hotspots in the country, State/UT-wise;                                                                   |
| (e)     | the reasons for delay in achieving the targets under this scheme; and                                                                    |
| (f)     | the time by which the Government proposes to achieve the target of providing broadband connectivity to all the 2.5 lakh Gram Panchayats? |

## 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 LOK SABHA IN RESPECT OF PARTS (a) to  (f)  OF  LOK  SABHA  STARRED  QUESTION  NO.  *53  FOR  5 TH   FEBRUARY,  2020 REGARDING 'BHARATNET PROJECT '.

(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. Funds for the BharatNet project are allocated as a whole and not State/Union Territory-wise. A lump sum amount is allocated and  disbursed  from  Universal  Service  Obligation  Fund  to  Bharat  Broadband  Network  Limited  for execution  of  BharatNet  project.  The  details  of  State/UT  wise  funds  disbursed/allocated  by  Bharat Broadband Network Limited under BharatNet Project, are given in Annex-I .

(b) to (d) The State/UT-wise details of length of optical fibre cable laid, the number of Gram Panchayats that have been provided with broadband connectivity, and the number of functional Wi-Fi hotspots in the country under the scheme are given in Annex-II .

(e) BharatNet is a project of mega nature and the GPs are widely dispersed across the country in rural and remote areas. All out efforts are being made to expeditiously implement the project. The delay in the implementation of the project is mainly on account of:

- (i) Delay in the initial commencement of the project as the work on the project began in the second half of 2014 due to field survey of GPs and pilot testing of the technology model.
- (ii) In Phase-I, only one media that is underground OFC to cover GPs, and Right of Way (RoW) issues.
- (iii) Under Phase-II, about 65,000 GPs  in 8 States are being implemented under State-led model, and delay in their implementation is also adversely affecting the completion of the Project.

(f) The broadband connectivity to all the 2.5 lakh Gram Panchayats is targeted to be provided by August 2021.

## Annexure referred to in Part (a) of the Lok Sabha Starred Question No. *53 for Answer on 05.02.2020.

## Details of funds disbursed under BharatNet Project Ph-I &Ph-II (BBNL)

| S. No.                       | State/Union Territory                       |   Funds Disbursed (In Crore) |
|------------------------------|---------------------------------------------|------------------------------|
| 1                            | Andaman &Nicobar                            |                        15.22 |
| 2                            | Andhra Pradesh                              |                       345.01 |
| 3                            | Arunachal Pradesh                           |                        45.58 |
| 4                            | Assam                                       |                       185.82 |
| 5                            | Bihar                                       |                       715.71 |
| 6                            | Chandigarh                                  |                         0.01 |
| 7                            | Chhattisgarh                                |                       941.36 |
| 8                            | Gujarat, Dadra &Nagar Haveli and Daman &Diu |                      1607.2  |
| 9                            | Haryana                                     |                       414.27 |
| 10                           | Himachal Pradesh                            |                       110.58 |
| 11                           | Jammu &Kashmir                              |                        79.53 |
| 12                           | Jharkhand                                   |                       352.28 |
| 13                           | Karnataka                                   |                       782.65 |
| 14                           | Kerala                                      |                       103.39 |
| 15                           | Lakshadweep                                 |                         0.1  |
| 16                           | Madhya Pradesh                              |                      1471.93 |
| 17                           | Maharashtra                                 |                      1932.85 |
| 18                           | Manipur                                     |                        50.55 |
| 19                           | Meghalaya                                   |                        66.97 |
| 20                           | Mizoram                                     |                        34.25 |
| 21                           | Nagaland                                    |                        60.07 |
| 22                           | Odisha                                      |                       546.79 |
| 23                           | Puducherry                                  |                         5.7  |
| 24                           | Punjab                                      |                       625.41 |
| 25                           | Rajasthan                                   |                       889.76 |
| 26                           | Sikkim                                      |                        76.33 |
| 27                           | Tamil Nadu                                  |                       121.46 |
| 28                           | Telangana                                   |                       336.1  |
| 29                           | Tripura                                     |                        75.7  |
| 30                           | Uttar Pradesh                               |                      1624.03 |
| 31                           | Uttarakhand                                 |                       266.3  |
| 32                           | West Bengal                                 |                       430.24 |
| Total                        | Total                                       |                     14313.1  |
| GPON&OFC                     | GPON&OFC                                    |                       976.1  |
| Ad hoc payment done for BSNL | Ad hoc payment done for BSNL                |                      4209.89 |
| TCIL                         | TCIL                                        |                        13.43 |
| BSNL-VSAT                    | BSNL-VSAT                                   |                        42.38 |
| BSNL Satellite Band width    | BSNL Satellite Band width                   |                        40.12 |

Annex-II Annexure referred to in Part (b) to (d) of the Lok Sabha Starred Question No. *53 for Answer

on 05.02.2020.

## Status of BharatNet connectivity

| Sr. No.   | States/Union Territory    |   Cable laid (km) |   GPs for which Cable laid |   Service Ready GPs (Includin g BHQs) |   No. of GPs where Wi-Fi hotspots installed |   No. of GPs where Wi-Fi hotspots active |
|-----------|---------------------------|-------------------|----------------------------|---------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------|
| 1         | Andhra Pradesh            |             18771 |                       4364 |                                  1628 |                                           0 |                                        0 |
| 2         | Arunachal Pradesh         |              1519 |                        579 |                                   244 |                                         160 |                                      155 |
| 3         | Andaman &Nicobar          |                34 |                         26 |                                     8 |                                           0 |                                        0 |
| 4         | Assam                     |              4799 |                       1622 |                                  1622 |                                           4 |                                        4 |
| 5         | Bihar                     |             26232 |                       8366 |                                  8067 |                                         292 |                                      219 |
| 6         | Chandigarh                |                19 |                         13 |                                    13 |                                          12 |                                       12 |
| 7         | Chhattisgarh              |             15524 |                       4727 |                                  4712 |                                         517 |                                      435 |
| 8         | Dadra &Nagar Haveli       |                68 |                         21 |                                    21 |                                           0 |                                        0 |
| 9         | Daman &Diu                |                26 |                         18 |                                    18 |                                           0 |                                        0 |
| 10        | Gujarat                   |             36936 |                      10887 |                                 10545 |                                          86 |                                       65 |
| 11        | Haryana                   |             11930 |                       6188 |                                  6188 |                                        1063 |                                      712 |
| 12        | Himachal Pradesh          |               766 |                        250 |                                   281 |                                         200 |                                      157 |
| 13        | Jammu &Kashmir and Ladakh |               766 |                        374 |                                  1011 |                                         740 |                                      661 |
| 14        | Jharkhand                 |              8405 |                       2750 |                                  2478 |                                         312 |                                      254 |
| 15        | Karnataka                 |             14178 |                       6244 |                                  6244 |                                        2569 |                                     1869 |
| 16        | Kerala                    |               830 |                       1129 |                                  1129 |                                         731 |                                      728 |
| 17        | Lakshadweep               |                 0 |                          0 |                                     0 |                                           0 |                                        0 |
| 18        | Madhya Pradesh            |             48365 |                      13666 |                                 12922 |                                        1350 |                                      826 |
| 19        | Maharashtra               |             54153 |                      18838 |                                 15534 |                                         776 |                                      437 |
| 20        | Manipur                   |               634 |                        376 |                                   427 |                                         204 |                                       44 |
| 21        | Mizoram                   |               689 |                        130 |                                    66 |                                          60 |                                       20 |
| 22        | Meghalaya                 |              1069 |                        356 |                                   194 |                                          70 |                                       70 |
| 23        | Nagaland                  |              2000 |                        656 |                                   129 |                                           0 |                                        0 |
| 24        | Odisha                    |             17472 |                       4395 |                                  3892 |                                         113 |                                      107 |
| 25        | Puducherry                |                92 |                        101 |                                   101 |                                          81 |                                       81 |
| 26        | Punjab                    |             24003 |                      12536 |                                 12529 |                                           0 |                                        0 |
| 27        | Rajasthan                 |             29208 |                       8766 |                                  8724 |                                        8813 |                                     3964 |
| 28        | Sikkim                    |               855 |                         41 |                                    18 |                                           0 |                                        0 |
| 29        | Tamil Nadu                |                 0 |                          0 |                                     0 |                                           0 |                                        0 |
| 30        | Telangana                 |              4772 |                       2047 |                                  2047 |                                           0 |                                        0 |
| 31        | Tripura                   |              1687 |                        817 |                                   647 |                                         157 |                                       77 |
| 32        | Uttar Pradesh             |             70950 |                      32411 |                                 28998 |                                       27095 |                                     6827 |
| 33        | Uttarakhand               |              3583 |                       1529 |                                  1526 |                                         353 |                                      315 |
| 34        | West Bengal               |              8591 |                       2494 |                                  2285 |                                          11 |                                        2 |
|           | Total                     |            408926 |                     146717 |                                134248 |                                       45769 |                                    18041 |

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